The Heart of Hospitality

It is not about creating a fancy image for ourselves as hosts, but about meeting the needs of our guests. It is not just an open invitation to visitors to be guests in our homes, but an invitation to strangers to be friends in our hearts. Rather than wait for chance to appear, it constantly pursue and work hard to seek opportunities to manifest itself. This is the hospitality of the Spirit of Christ.

Jesus Christ came to meet our greatest and deepest need of all, love. He came to transform us from strangers into friends so that we might feel accepted and welcomed into the house of God. He made himself totally available to another in order that the person’s hunger for love and acceptance is met. Such is the hospitality of the Spirit of Christ- to love & care for others by trying the best that we can in our abilities to meet their needs; welcoming them into the home of our hearts.

But I’m starting to see how such hospitality stretches those who try to practice it, for when we open the doors of our hearts to people, we are also opening our hearts to dangers that we may sometimes receive from those of opposite characters. These dangers include pains, disappointments and sufferings, which unfortunately is unavoidable because it is the reality of our current world.

Though aware of the many possible dangers the heart may suffer, I want to continue pursuing hospitality all the days of my life (at least I hope I will), for you’ll never know when you’ll be entertaining ‘angels’. It will be heartbreaking to miss the opportunity of entertaining those whose presence can be a blessing in our lives. More so, it will be tragic to miss the opportunity of touching the hearts of those who may really be in need of the gospel. We may not be able to see its reward now, but one day, in retrospect, I believe we will find that welcoming such guests was worth more that what it had cost to entertain them.

Love is Sight

Perhaps love isn’t so blind after all, for true love sees clearly both the strengths and weaknesses in others, and in spite of them, true love chooses to see beyond them. This is the kind of love that Christ wants us to practice in our daily lives. It is easy to love when things are going the way we want them to be, or rather, I should say, it is easy to love when we are in situations where things are in our control.

But the real challenge comes when effort is required in order to show love. It becomes more like an act of will, a decision that one has to make when placed in situations where one’s own boundary of comfort is challenged. It is a tough choice to make, especially when one knows that there is a heavy cost to it because loving others requires work, hard work, a lifetime work.

There will be a point of time when love will seem insincere and inauthentic because the initial stage of loving the opposites is an involuntary act of love. But, I believe that the feelings of love will eventually catch up with our right actions if we have the determination in our heart to continue loving even when we don’t feel like it.

Maybe if we think of love as an art, then the only way to master this art is to make it a servant of our wills. But, to make it a servant of our wills is a choice that we have to make for ourselves.

“Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained”
~C.S. Lewis

Proofs and Evidences

I want my friends to be saved. I want them to be able to see & understand the greatness and goodness of the God I strongly believe in, so that they too can inherit the eternal gifts that Christ offers. But, how can I prove to them that the God, whom I so strongly believe in is the best and is above all other gods?

I have been thinking about that question for the past one week now, and I guess it is probably not possible for any of us to prove that God exists. After all, God is not an object which we can take and perform an experiment on in science labs. What I can do to convince them that Jesus is real is by showing them the evidences that is written in the Bible about the life of Jesus and to live my life as a reflection of the nature of Jesus. Perhaps, the strongest support to the evidences presented in the Bible lies in the way we Christians live our lives. Beyond this point, it is up to them to decide whether they want to believe it or not.

I am starting to see how the whole concept of proof can be pretty subjective because the amount of evidence needed to convince someone to believe in something varies according to each individual. One argument may be highly convincing to me, but leave someone else completely skeptical, or, there could also be times when no amount of evidence presented will ever be sufficient to convince one to change his/her mind when they have already made up their minds to close all doors to any further discussions.

I know there’s a limited amount of things which I can do to try to convince my friends to believe in Jesus Christ. But sometimes, I wish there was a much easier & faster way for all of them to come to know Him. Nonetheless, I believe that God has His ways & timing, and so, I will continue to trust in Him to work in their lives just as He has planned.

A lesson on the power of love

As tears of anger & disappointment stream down my cheeks, I knew that I had to fight against it no matter what the cost. That’s what a follower of Christ is required to do- to forgive our debtors. It is certainly something not easy for us to do as it is not our natural instinct to forgive. Although I had the intentions to forgive, I did not have enough power to do so.

But, God knew what I needed to learn how to extend grace to others. He knew that I needed to be reminded of the love & grace Christ pours over me every minute of my life. And so, He sent my lil bro just at the right time to give me the encouragement that I need. His warm hug put me on a plane of love, where suddenly all the bitterness and anger within me started to disappear. There was no room for negative feelings as love started to warm my heart. It was a lesson on the power of love, a lesson which never struck me this deep until now.

When love is present, we learn how to put the best possible construction on the conduct of others, trying to see what was done was without evil intention. Now, I understand better of what it means when Paul defined real love to the Corinthians- It keeps no record of wrong and it never fails. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Everything's good now because I know it was unintentional. Of course, it still hurts, but I know that my dear Lord will heal it slowly, and that He will grant me the sufficient grace that I need to continue loving. =)

The Gifts of Christmas

At Christmas, many of us have nicely decorated Christmas tree in our homes, and under the tree, we prepare many gifts for the people we love. But, these gifts are only temporary. Although each gift has a value to it, they cannot and do not last forever.

In the Bible, we read of another tree, the cross. Jesus was crucified on that tree for you and for me. It was our sins that nailed Him there. Yet, under that same tree, Jesus gives us the best gifts anyone could ever receive. The gifts, which are laid beneath this tree, are of eternal value- the gift of salvation, the gift of freedom from the slavery of sin, the gift of eternal life. Jesus came that we may be filled with the unspeakable joy of the Lord; the peace that surpasses all human understanding; and the hope that will help us endure, together with faith & love, right to the very end (Romans 15:13).

I thank God for all the various Christmas gifts that I have received from friends and loved ones. I am touched by their thoughtfulness. But more so, I thank God for giving us the greatest gift of all, Jesus, that we might experience Christmas every day in our hearts.

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay,
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray!
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
And take us to heaven, to live with Thee there.
Amen.

Baby blogger

This shall be my first new challenge of the year. I have been bugged by a few people to start blogging but I've never really got down to do so. Writing has never been my interest and previously, I've always thought of blogging as a hobby for weird people. But, I've also seen how blogging can leave a positive impact on others' lives. I know for sure that I have been blessed by reading other people's blogs. And so, I hope I will be able to do so with my own blog too. I hope this journey of reflective writing will also encourage me to think deeper into things, to discover more interesting facts about life & God that is usually hidden below the surface of the many things I see and experience in my daily life.

My new year resolutions?

1. As much as I want to receive many many blessings from people, I hope that I can be a blessing to others. I want God to use my life just the way He wants, to bless my friends, family & also people whom I will come to know.
2. I want to be diligent in building my relationship with God and also with others. I believe that one of the most important essence in finding meaning in life is through relationships.
3. Lastly, I hope to use blogging as a new area where I can contribute in building God's kingdom.