Abundance

Psalm 36:8 : They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.

God never gives us the bare minimum when we trust in Him does He? Whatever we need,
he gives us what we need and more.  His grace is abundant, his mercy is abundant, whatever
we ask.  Listening to Dwight Knight talk yesterday, about all the things that went on at Calvary, it reminded me, there was so much more that went on than just meets the eye.  Not only were our sins taken away, but we were then given privilege to so many things, in abundance.

Bad Language

I know that many of us might have used an ounce of bad language in our lives. I know I have and that's why I wanted to clear up on why I was wrong when I or anyone has said bad things in their lives.

Ephesians 5:4

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Colossians 3:8

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Proverbs 13:3

Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life;
he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

Colossians 4:6

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

These are just some verses to think about if you have a problem with bad language use.

In the Light

I heard this song today, a song that I have not listened to in a while, but sums up my feelings now.

Hey guys

So I started reading The Book of Revelation and it's pretty intense. I read some footnotes on it too and its really interesting. I hope i can come soon.

He holds everything together

My friend Mithun posted this and I thought it was so cool, I wanted to share it.


"For all you guys who are pre-meds, medical students and into the sciences like myself this is a very interesting discovery
Protein Laminin (above)
-A glycoprotein found in connective tissue that is responsible for holding together all humans and animals.

Is it surprising that such a significant protein would look like the cross of Jesus Christ. Pretty amazing and i just wanted to share it with all you guys though you probably already even know. Goes to show the sanctity of life and how elaborately we are all made with a distinct and intentional design by one all powerful creator.

Colossians 1: 16-17
"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER"

Something tells me Paul wasn't just being metaphorical when he was inspired to write that"

Patience

"For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." Romans 8:24

Have you ever had this feeling or wonder if God will show up during sunday worship? Have you ever hope He will show up?
I sometimes wonder if God will reveal himself during communion. It's so overwhelming, exciting. But I'm afraid to hope, afraid it's not what i expected and all these question of doubt starts to piled up in my mind. I rather see him first than hope. How tragic yet these verse remind me we wait with patience.
God is untamed and glorious. We will never know how He reveal himself but we hope! and we will wait for it with patience :-).

Only God

Someone once said "Everyone has a God-size void that only God can fill."

We were created to glorify only God, to be satisfied by only God, to be fulfilled in only God. Let me go further as to say we were created to be loved and have a relationship with Jesus. These days people throw "God" around as a generic term and "God" can be anything from Krishna to Sai Baba so let me say Jesus Christ aka God.

When we find ourselves away from Jesus and the things that burden His heart we realize the other things we find ourselves invested in somehow still leave us feeling empty or dissatisfied. Why? Because only Jesus can help us find that contentment we so desperately wish we had, that peace we so longingly desire, that love we so genuinely were created for.

Allow Jesus to be your everything. Give Him your time and your effort. We can't afford otherwise. Without Him, we don't have anything. He thinks you're worth it and you know He is definitely worth it.

Jeremiah 31:3 Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee

Broken Pride

Pride - the subtle yet deadly killer as I would like to call it . . .

I'm not prideful! (Me standing before God, in an utterly gruesome conversation)

I stood before God, determined that I was right for the past couple of months. I stood before God with the mentality that what I had implanted in my head was the right way, and that nothing else would do. Some call it a weird sense of conviction, but quite honestly, this wasn't conviction. When strongly convicted of something, you hold on to it right, but you have a defense for it. But even in your defense, you still opt to hear others out, even though you strongly believe what you may. That's the part that strictly differentiates conviction from pride. Conviction allows for the bearing of others in love, the hearing out others in love, and even the care for others in love. Pride offers the exact opposite. Pride stands on the defense always.Pride constantly has a defensive heart. Pride defends itself on why it is right constantly, but doesn't quite care to hear what others have to say about it, because it must prove it's right in order to constantly prove others wrong.

There are many facets to pride, but I am not narrowing in on the kind of pride that says I am better looking then you, or I can do this better then you, rather I am talking about the other face of pride that most don't see at first glance. The pride that creeps into your heart when you don't agree with something, which then grows stronger when others agree with you on your disagreement. The pride that seeps in when you feel wronged and won't stand until the other person is well aware and wallows in that understanding. The pride that slickly dives into your heart through smart comments of being hurt or past experiences. Pride slowly creeps in and takes root in a small corner of the heart and festers there, waiting to be fed, waiting to be called upon. Once it plants itself, the moment another brings up the idea of being wronged, or the disagreement ahead of you you quickly take the defensive approach. You become the victim. You allow yourself to sit through the constant words, the constant thoughts, the constant ideas of being right, and of nothing else but you being right. Pride grows thicker and so does that defensive heart. The defensive heart grows to compromise caring for another, grows to neglect the love that might be there, and strictly focuses on that idea of being right. Pride.

Due to the fact that the defensive heart is now defending, and neglecting aspects of care, love, and joy, it starts to grow cold. It becomes bitter because it is wronged, and as the victim you must obviously be right. The heart which is now bitter, and not properly being tended too, now becomes numb leaving conversations with God to look more like this:

"I don't care God. This person should understand. I am right here, and this situation needs to be fixed but I'm not fixing it."
"God, my family should understand my heart, I don't care if they don't, I am right here and you need to provide the way."
"God, I don't care if no one understands me, it's not like they truly care anyway, You know that I am right and that this is how it has to be."

Bitter. Angry. Cold. Apathetic. Pride.

Slowly but surely, after months of fighting this battle, the sweet whisper in the wind speaks so softly over this heart. Days of apathy grew into days of feeling and knowing this wasn't right. Days of anger and bitterness turned into days of yearning for the sweet presence of joy. Days of pride turned into days of brokenness.

"God, I can't do this anymore, please help me!"

The last cry I cried, while sitting in my bed reflecting on the months behind me. I picked up the word right next to me, and felt led to turn to 2 Corinthians 3.

I read, and read, and read .... my eyes scrolling through each word even more intently then the last.....

"You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men."

..... my heart, can I say that right now? ......

"clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart."

...... can I really say I am an epistle of Christ at this moment? ......

"we have such trust through Christ toward God"

..... t r u s t ?.......

"not that we are sufficient of ourselves ...... who has made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit."

..... I am not sufficient in helping myself ......

"......the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. ....... because of the glory that excels ...... for if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious ..... "

...... glory, glory, glory, - the displayed excellence of God ......

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

....... a mirror, what is my reflection right now? ..... I am to be transformed from glory to glory .... I am to be transformed into the excellence of God .... but what is my reflection right now? ......

The mirror shattered right in front of me. The reflection I was bearing was one I could not bear to see. The moment that mirror shattered, the walls around my heart started breaking down. Tears began falling down my face in humility before an excellent God, whose desire is for me to be transformed into His excellence. Sitting on that bed, surrounded by tears, humbled by His desire in me and His promise through His word, I could no longer hold on to what I thought was right and no longer cared about the ability of me being justified for being wronged, my desire - to look in that mirror and see the glory of God reflected.

Pride, it takes time and effort to build up, but the power of God and His word, breaks it down instantaneously.

Now that is a little piece of my story .....

Questions

Jeremiah 29:13

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart

Life has a lot of questions doesn't it? When you seem to find the answer to one, lo and behold another arises. As if our own personal questions wasn't enough to overrun our minds, we bear the questions of others as well. Questions that put us in a corner, make us frustrated, poke and prod us in every which way...

I'm sure this week has brought a question to your table that you can't conjure up an answer to. A question that may be slowing you down, a question that has pushed you to give up, a question that has made you numb.

Bring it to him, call him out on his promise, he already has your heart, start searching for his...

and see his glory here

Heat Wave

So this whole week has been kind of stressful especially because of all the school work that our teachers are giving us right before we leave for finals and then summer vacation. But it seems that ever day when I came home, God showed me something new. Today, He taught me something using the words of another kid in school who was not even talking about God or "Christianity" or anything of the sort.

So this morning at around 3rd period (around 9:00-10:00 AM), I'm sitting in my Chem. class and the girl sitting behind me starts complaining about how it was "hot as hell" and how she wanted a half-day like the New Jersey kids. Meanwhile I'm sitting there thinking, "Wow she has no idea what she's talking about." It wasn't even the hottest part of the day yet, the morning just started. So I'm thinking about how hot it's gonna be and it somehow reminded me of Peter when he said,

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps (1 Peter 2:21)

The author of Acts also wrote,

So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name (5:41)

We are to count it all as joy when we suffer things for Christ's name sake.

So after this thought came to mind I thought about the missionaries and all of those people out there that are being persecuted. Could I go through all of that? Would I have enough faith and trust in God. Do I have enough faith in Him now?

Now when you come back to heat, pshh that's nothing. I have to be ready to suffer for my King.

Always be ready.

20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”

You Got A Friend In Me

I was really challenged by the message that our sisters shared yesterday. I was telling Bets and Lees after, that the hardest part now is taking it home and applying it in our everyday situations. 

Here are the two initial points that they had mentioned about friendship:

. A friendship is as a precious stone. It must be guarded, and protected. Proverbs 17:17 says a friend loveth at all times.

. In order for us to cherish our friendships we have to understand the value of it. 

I encourage that we all spend some time if we have it tonight, or sometime this week to just reflect on what God spoke to us this week. Flip through your notes, think about your current friendships.

Reflect on your friendship with God. 

Why do you need Him?

What are some ways you can improve in talking to Him?

Reflect on your other friendships.

Why do you need them? 

Why do they need you?

Are there areas for improvement? What can you do about it?

Remember, change is a conscious effort put into action. And actions are what support the words behind them.  

Lets do this! 

The Value or Worth of a Woman

The way our Lord Jesus treated woman was revolutionary taking into consideration the customs, time, and culture of his day. As evident throughout the Gospel's, Jesus treated his mother and all woman with the deepest respect and honor. And also, while most of the great world Religions like Hinduism and especially Islam treat woman as inferior to men, the Bible gives them a place of dignity, honor, and unspeakable worth and this is so evident in Proverbs 31.

Proverbs 31:10-"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price [is] far above rubies."

The Real World

So I just got home from putting up this hedge fence (plants as a fence instead of an actual fence). The entire process really allowed me to put some things into perspective, let me explain:

So last night I knew that today I would be undertaking this project. So I planned out how everything would be. I figured what I had to bring to get the project done, I set an estimated amount of time it would take to complete the project, I even went as far as figuring out the steps that I would take to undertake this project successfully. So I woke up this morning, got the materials together, got into the car, and got to the place where this fence was going to be planted, brought out all the materials, and got to work.

The thing is, in theory the entire project seemed quite simple, in theory it didn't seem to hard, But as I tried to dig into the dry hard soil, I found myself having trouble. I began to exert so much effort and not get too far in the goal of digging a line for the fence.

So the first thing that I was able to put into perspective:

Things may seem simple and applicable in theory, but the actual carrying out of that theory may be a whole other endeavor.

I started getting really tired, I was already mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted from this week, this lack of progress wasn't helping. So I took a trip back home, changed my clothes, got hydrated, ate some food, and packed up some water to take with me.

The second thing I was able to put into perspective:

If I don't go into a situation properly equipped or prepared, I will be less effective, in turn wasting effort, time, and energy that could be used elsewhere

I didn't go into the situation properly prepared. I wore jeans and work boots, I had a light breakfast and a small glass of water. Yet the 90 degree weather completely shut down my body from the heat and lack of energy. My efforts were pointless. Yet after I came home, better equipped myself for the situation, and thought ahead of what my body would need in the situation, I went in with a whole new determination and refreshed.

So I get back to work, but this time, I take a water hose and completely soak up the dry soil in the line that I am trying to form. It was tedious, it was time consuming, but it was well worth it, because this time that I went to shovel out the line where I would be planting the hedges, the soil came out much easier and I was able to move faster. Third thing that I was able to put into perspective

Never make a situation harder than it has to be, especially if you have the resources around you to aid you.

You see, the hose was sitting there the whole time, I just didn't think to pick it up and moisten up the soil before trying to dig it out.

So the planting process begins, and I dig a hole along the dug out line to put these plants into. I don't know if you guys have dug a deep hole before but it isn't the most easiest of tasks. Especially if you have a big shovel and the hole you are trying to dig should be about the size of your hand. But after a lot of work the holes are dug, and the plants are put in, I reinforce the plant with a bunch of soil so it doesn't topple over. I get the hose and water the plants. Fourth thing I was able to put into perspective:

So much time, effort, and energy has been put into digging out this line, making the holes, and putting in the plants. But no matter how hard someone tries, they will never realize how much work was put into this project.

You know what's cool?

See in the real world, these four perspectives could get very frustrating.

In the real world carrying out a situation is already difficult in itself. See the concept of school is very idealistic and simple, but the actual carrying out of studying and taking tests and trying to balance it with life is very overwhelming. Going to work to make some money is a very easy concept in itself - but the idea of making money to end up spending it all on basic living expenses (mortgage, insurance, bills) is overwhelming. Spending time with your family and friends is an ideal and realistic situation in your mind, but when it comes to carrying that out - and balancing that time with your school/work/personal time - it could potentially become an overwhelming task.

How fortunate we are to have a God who is with us every step of the way - from the formulation of the concept, to the actual carrying out of the concept. The Lord tells us to "lean not on our own understanding"

In the real world going through a day could be a very strenuous and draining process. Getting up, going to school/work, coming home, getting things done for school/work/yourself, going to sleep - only to start it all back up again in the morning

How fortunate we are to have a God who prepares and equips us by simply interacting with him. He tells us to draw close, he gives us armor to handle any situation thrown at us, He provides for our needs at the perfect time.

In the real world true friends or people who care about you could seem so far away even when you are surrounded by them. You feel alone, you feel as if you are the only one dealing with the things that you are. You feel as if no one understands

How fortunate we are to have a God who sympathizes with us and with his blood has provided us with brothers and sisters who we can fellowship with and sharpen each other with. Because of this we never have to make a situation harder than it has to be, because we can take it to the Lord in prayer and have brothers and sisters who help hold us up.

In the real world, glory and fame are top priorities, pride runs sky high in your mind, you seek to elevate to the top for what is defined as "success". At times even things such as community service or selfless acts are really for our own personal satisfaction.

How fortunate we are to have a God who reserves all of the glory for himself, how fortunate is the fact that we can bring him glory through our feeble actions, thoughts, or heart.

How did I get from making a hedge fence to God's provision for us in the real world? I don't know. I guess that's just how God works . I guess if you think about it, you can see God in every situation you find yourself in.

Try it.

later :)

A Little Sleep

Proverbs 6 verse 9 and 10 reads like this: Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. So yesterday I randomly woke up at 6:30, and I ended getting a lot of things done. Today I set my alarm for 7 but I ended up waking at around 9:30, (because I pressed the dreaded snooze button, why do they have that button anyway?). I planned on finishing the task of cleaning up my room (yeah I know I have been back for like 3 weeks, but I had to find a way to get all the stuff that I bought for school into my room). Anyways because I did not wake up, and thought the few extra minutes of sleep would be beneficial, I am now "behind schedule." My personal goal is to wake up by 7, at the latest, everyday, so that the time I have will not be wasted, and can be used ultimately to glorify God.