What's My Worth?
written at Monday, May 31, 2010"One of the greatest surprises in life is when we realize our worth in Christ, and we weren't even looking for it."
Disappointment
written at Sunday, May 30, 2010Disappointment comes all the time for me, grades, friends, situations, achievements. Would I say it's a natural thing? Definitely. Who wouldn't feel disappointed if things did't go according to their expectation? At times I'll feel messed up, exhausted and tired from all the anxiety associated with disappointment. I will be kidding myself and lying if I said I haven't been feeling any disappointment.
When you get back that grade on that piece of paper and you just get that growing urge inside of you to just tear it to shreds and throw it into the bin and just exclaim, "Why do I even bother." Or the times where you think you understood a situation, which leaves you opening your heart a little bit more to that other person, only to feel like a fool after. You then wrap yourself in your duvet before sleeping, with your fists clenched and in your longing for escape you pound the bed several times and pray, a prayer with such a tone, seeping with emotion and desperation. You ask the question, "Why?", "Why O Lord do I have to go through all of this?" You sleep, feeling defeated.
Then in the morning I stumbled across this verse. It's really amazing isn't it? The previous night you can be bouncing around, rolling around, jumping around feeling absolutely hopeless. But then you read a short passage from the Bible and suddenly, a wave of assurance comes, a breath of refreshment blows away the burdens of your heart. Suddenly, you are brought back into the presence of truth.
Romans 8:31-39
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is He that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: " For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The last part of this passage hit me, the author was surely convinced, convinced at what? Convinced that nothing that comes his way will be able to separate him from the love of God. I know that no matter how unreasonable, immature, unfair, ungrateful and sinful I am. I know that God still loves me, and He loves you very much too.
I want to know that His love prevails above all things. Is there anything else that I need?
Gathering In His Name
written at Thursday, May 27, 2010Just finished the book of Ephesians with the small group. Just would like to dedicate this post to you guys. Through this semester we have really journeyed through Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus, I am very sure each of us have taken something precious from these studies.
I was reflecting through it, in one epistle Paul has brought us through a wide range of issues, instructions and exhortations. From highlighting the sovereignty and supremacy of God, His love and grace toward us through His son Jesus Christ, establishing a relationship with us and thus uniting all of us to the body of Christ, our relationships with each other, our relationships in our families, putting on the armour of God to live a life standing firm for Him.
I know for sure that you all are investing in eternity, as hard as it may be at times, the distractions around us, the stress, the worries, I personally feel the important of meeting and gathering on such occasions as this. They seem to me so precious. My desire to continue falters, but I see the eagerness and the passion and the love you guys have for Him, desiring to know Him on a deeper level every single day, it really encourages me to do the same.
Thank you.
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Rend The Heavens
written at Saturday, May 22, 2010Though it's not Christmas, I just thought of blogging about something related to it. Apparently in New Zealand, and many other countries, they happen to have a "Mid-Winter Christmas" which in my opinion is just a holiday for the sake of having one, why have another Christmas in the middle of the year? Anyway, I have basically decided that Christmas was better in my younger days. As a child, it was just so much simpler, the anticipation for nice toys was so much greater. Then again, as I get older, Christmas starts to mean something deeper and more precious.
I don't know about you but I'm not much of a present shaker, the moment I receive a gift, my hands are unable to keep still. When the guests leave, I will proceed to my room and rip the present wrapping to shreds, or to use the antiquated term, “rend,” the wrapping paper off the gift that I had been dying to open.
I'm reading a sermon on-line, the main thrust of it is, "May you give gifts this Christmas season because you have been given the greatest gift." These gifts may not necessarily mean toys or expensive gifts for loved ones, rather they just simply serve as an illustration, a simple illustration of what it means to anticipate and wait for something, or to simply give and have a generous heart (which I struggle with very often) out of remembrance that God has given us Himself as the greatest gift, by which we mimic by sharing it with the ones we love.
Isaiah 64:1 reads, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!” Shortly before Chapter 64, back in Chapter 63, we read some of the writer’s despair, “Look down from heaven and see from your lofty throne, holy and glorious. Where are your zeal and your might? Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us.”
With such raw emotion seeping from the page, in a desperate cry, Isaiah pens this plead for help from God, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!”
In the New Testament, the only gospel in the Bible which picks up this account of Isaiah is from the gospel of Mark. Because it's in Mark that we see the fulfilment and the answer to Isaiah's desperate cry for help. Where? How? What? Throughout the hundreds of years after the time of Isaiah, there has been many false messiahs which had arose (from extra-canonical sources), but what was different about this messiah lying in a manger in Bethlehem?
It’s that some thirty years later after the birth of Jesus, when He undergoes a ritual immersion at the hands of John the Baptist. We see the crying plea of a broken prophet finally answered some 600 years after he begged God to tear open the heavens and come down.
Mark 1:10 reads “As Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove.”
This is Him! Isaiah, your God has done it at last! He heard your prayer, and He has torn open the heavens and come down!
Like any just and loving God would do.
“Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down! Come down, show yourself, and fix this place! You say that You are just, You say You love Your people, You say You will fix this! Well, come down and fix it! Please! I beg you, God Almighty, come down and show this world that You mean it!”
“As Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open….”
And He did. That’s what the season of Christmas is all about.
He came.
The most amazing and yet mind-boggling thing is that He didn’t come and tear open the skies and come down in an earth shattering awesomeness that only God could do. No, He came down and entered into this mess of a broken and fallen world as one of us. What an awesome and mysterious God we serve.
Like any just and loving God would do.
“Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down! Come down, show yourself, and fix this place! You say that You are just, You say You love Your people, You say You will fix this! Well, come down and fix it! Please! I beg you, God Almighty, come down and show this world that You mean it!”
“As Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open….”
And He did. That’s what the season of Christmas is all about.
He came.
The most amazing and yet mind-boggling thing is that He didn’t come and tear open the skies and come down in an earth shattering awesomeness that only God could do. No, He came down and entered into this mess of a broken and fallen world as one of us. What an awesome and mysterious God we serve.
Scentiments
written at Thursday, May 20, 2010Been really interested in fragrances and colognes lately, been researching the chemistry behind them and how they are made. It is really interesting! It is difficult to synthesize many of the esters, especially when using them to make fragrances and not compromising on their quality. Each fragrance has different top notes, middle notes and base notes. Although for a start I used to think every single one smelled the same.
It is an art, and no I'm not saying it because I plan to pursue marketing as one of my majors. Have a look at the picture above, Yves Saint Laurent's L'Homme for men, a simple yet beautiful design, the colour of the magic juice inside the bottle invokes a sort of curiosity. It is an art because the perfumer developing this fragrance plays around with different ideas, different images, different stimulations through the different ingredients. Finally, after months or even years of development, out comes a new fragrance for the perfume house.
Parable Of The Sower
written at Monday, May 17, 2010Matthew 13:1-9
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root,they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear."
Wholehearted
written at Thursday, May 13, 2010For those who were waiting for an update, here it is! Sorry for my notable absence from blogging the past few days, things have been really busy! On top of the general day and life at University, the last few days have been a time of self-examination and thought about what life in business will be like.
I asked myself a few questions, which arose while participating in various business events, seminars, lectures and interactions. Some questions were, how can I honour the Lord in the business place? Profits, what is the correct way to view profits? How can I be sincere in business, is corporate social responsibility just a façade? Am I really doing it to honour the Lord, or am I just putting up a front to win the favour of my boss so I can get that promotion I so long for?
Eventually, I will be thrust into the corporate environment and I will at some point have to face these issues that have crossed my mind or have experienced as I go about the daily ins and outs of the corporate life. It is easy to think about it, but putting it to practice is an entirely different thing altogether.
Today's study of Ephesians 6:7 was relevant to me. It said, "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men." Then it struck me, "Gosh I can really think of some situations where I have done things for my own ends or to simply please people rather than serving the Lord wholeheartedly." So we were then led to some passages from 1 Samuel 17, we were brought through the account of David and Goliath.
The king was going to give great wealth and his daughter's hand in marriage to the man who kills Goliath. Furthermore, to add to the rewards, his father's family would be exempt from tax in Israel. What an attractive deal. In fact, David asked twice what the rewards were! Interesting. But I think the focus is not on the fact that he was eyeing the rewards, rather what his focus was. Honouring the Lord. Prime example would be the verse below...
1 Samuel 17:46-47
"This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands."
The passage above helped me with the questions I was asking myself. There is nothing wrong with making profits, making money, earning rewards for what you have done, I think this verse ties in very well with what Ephesians 6 has mentioned about serving the Lord wholeheartedly. Sometimes, in the motive of money, recognition or acceptance, we conduct ourselves in a manner to simply glorify ourselves. These passages tell me that it's important to serve the Lord wholeheartedly, whether the rewards come, or doesn't, it shouldn't matter, because your heart desires to please the Lord and do His will. I pray that I will serve the Lord wholeheartedly...
As hard as it may be at times.
"This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands."
The passage above helped me with the questions I was asking myself. There is nothing wrong with making profits, making money, earning rewards for what you have done, I think this verse ties in very well with what Ephesians 6 has mentioned about serving the Lord wholeheartedly. Sometimes, in the motive of money, recognition or acceptance, we conduct ourselves in a manner to simply glorify ourselves. These passages tell me that it's important to serve the Lord wholeheartedly, whether the rewards come, or doesn't, it shouldn't matter, because your heart desires to please the Lord and do His will. I pray that I will serve the Lord wholeheartedly...
As hard as it may be at times.
Beyond Comparison
written at Friday, May 7, 2010The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis. It is a poignant passage where Aslan begins to sing Narnia into creation out of a black void.
It starts, “In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction is was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. There were no words. There was hardly even a tune. But it was, beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it.”
Shine Your Light To The World
written at Tuesday, May 4, 2010"How can I stand here with You and not be moved by You?" one of the well-known song lyrics by Lifehouse. Of course the lyrics of the song could be interpreted in different ways which brings me to what I'll share in this blog post.
Watching this video and listening to this song stirred something inside of me. What exactly encompasses my worship? How do I define worship? Essentially this song challenged me greatly, however it is one thing to challenge me, now comes the choice of whether or not I want to intentionally get out there and be this "carrier" of love, compassion, hope and salvation that God is calling me, and all of us, to be. Worship draws us to a closer relationship with the Lord, it brings us to the heart of God. Then I realised that as I draw closer, as I pray that God will "open the eyes of my heart" as the song goes, He reveals that it's not just about my relationship with Him, it's about my relationship with others as well. Am I sharing this relationship that I have with Him in the relationships I have with others? "How can I stand here with You and not be moved by You?"
To those reading this, I encourage you to watch the video below (First time embedding a video into my blog, I'm very pleased at the outcome). Let the lyrics of the song soak in, may it challenge you, may it challenge us.
The Spirit of the LORD is upon me
To preach good news to the poor
To bind up the broken-hearted
To make you known even more
So the people living in darkness will see the great light
The Spirit of the LORD is upon me
Freedom and truth to proclaim
Trade your ashes for the oil of gladness
And your sorrows for garments of praise
I'll be the carrier of love and compassion
I'll be the carrier of light to the world
I'll be the carrier of hope and salvation
I will go shine Your light to the world
I will go shine Your light to the world
