Walking the Faith

Just wondering…
With little eyes that are constantly watching & waiting to see what I choose to do, am I sending the right messages through my actions? I say that I am a Christian, but do I have enough evidence to support what I say?

The Christian life is a life of commitment and total surrender to the authority of God. It is about holding firmly to Him, obeying His commands, walking in all his ways, and most importantly, loving and serving Him with all my heart and soul. Yet, I know that many times I’ve failed to live up to what I’ve claimed to be due to those countless times when I’ve put my desires above others’ needs, and thus, neglecting the responsibility that I have in loving others just as Christ loved me in a sacrificial manner.

But, I thank God for His grace and mercy, for not expecting me to live this Christian life on my own, or by my own strength. More so, I thank God for sending me a helper, the Holy Spirit, to live in my heart, to daily guide me to make wise decisions and to teach me how to love others with the utmost ability that I can. Without the Spirit’s guidance, I think I'll find myself falling over the same failures time and time again.

Surrendering to God is a constant decision that one needs to make over and over again if he/she wants to be like the Master; to act like He would act in bringing hope, love, joy and life to the poor and needy. The walk won’t be easy, but God has promised a victorious life through the Holy Spirit. Hence, I will trust in Him to provide me with all that I need to carry out the works that He wants me to do.

And so, dear Lord, as I continually renew my commitment towards you, refresh my heart with the joy of your spirit; fill my cup with your love till it overflows in and out of my life; and strengthen my faith that I may have the power to resist temptations, that as a result, I can be a more faithful & effective witness for you in this world. Amen.

The Essence of Easter

The wood, the thorns, the nails. One man, one cross, one death and that made all the difference in the world. That was the design of Christ death- to destroy the sins of every man, once for all, and that through His one death, our lives could be free from the bondage of sin and the eternal condemnation of sin.

But, hey, that’s not the end of the story. Christ's sin-conquering death was just Friday. There was Sunday too, the Easter morning, the morning of his life-saving resurrection. This is what Easter is all about- a new life.

Have you ever wondered what Christ’s ultimate purpose was for coming to earth? It wasn’t to make bad people good, but to make dead people live. That was His main aim- to give mankind a new start; new life; new nature; new freedom. His death and resurrection opened the possibility for men to be born again, not physically, but spiritually so that through spiritual birth, every man can receive the gift of Life.

Jesus was crucified, along with two other criminals and as they were about to die, one of the criminals turned to Him for forgiveness. That man realized that the only way for him to be free from all the guilt & condemnation of his sins was through Jesus' blood because only His sacrifice is fully satisfactory to the law & justice of God. He asked for mercy and Jesus freely gave; Jesus forgave the man who decided to believe in Him even at the very last moment.

When people come to us with their problems, the best support we can give is perhaps to help them see the goodness of the new life that Christ offers, rather than just rattling a whole long list of what’s right and wrong; telling them what should have been done in the first place and what they should be doing next to make things right again. Deeds do not save us, faith in Christ does.

I believe that redemption precedes righteousness, for only when we have the Life of the Spirit in our soul, can we have the ability to do what is right and justified in the eyes of God. Only in the new life, will we be able to have the desire to honour Him and lead the triumphant life. Never again will death have the last word.

“When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us.” (Romans 6:10)

Pain's Remedy

Life is difficult. We all know this for we’ve tasted pain before and we are continually faced by it. Whether we like it or not, we have to deal with it; it’s unavoidable. But, the question is how are we dealing with it? Is it a solution that is carried out in God’s presence or is it just another new way that you’ve design to make you feel better for the moment?

I guess many times we have fallen into the trap of blindness, where we take our eyes off God and allow our sinful nature to take the lead even though we clearly know that our actions and heart should be seeking after God’s counsel. Though I hate to admit it, but I have to say that we are pretty good at finding all sorts of ways, except God's, to soothe ourselves, telling us that life is okay and that we are okay too. We deal with our deepest agonies by manipulating things to go the way we want them to be.

We really tear God’s heart when we are ever so ready to turn to other things for comfort and help except Him. Perhaps what we really need to consider is- are we fearing the consequences of sin more than we fear sin at its core? Because until we really understand what sin is; it's true nature, the damages it can do to one’s life, as well as the ache it can bring to the heart of God, we won't quit playing with it.

In the midst of all our troubles, struggles, pains, difficulties in life, our heart is probably the one thing that we need to change, and prayer is the only way that will change it. I believe that God is faithful & will keep His promises, to supply all that we need- comfort, peace, strength, courage, hope and wisdom, at that moment to help us get past them.

Two ways of dealing with pain: one that seeks the counsel of God, while the other turns to earthly things for temporary comfort; one that is willing to wait upon the Lord and be obedient to Him, while the other is stubborn and determined to do things his/her own way. Which way are you following?

“If you are determined to go in a certain direction, God will step aside and second your emotion.” ~Ravi Zacharias.
And when this happens, I think that’s when we will face the greatest pain of all.

When "Mummy & Daddy" is lost

Kids should ever be left alone in this world to defend for themselves. Neither should any kid be deprived of parental love, for in this hostile world of ours, perhaps one of the most secure terms that all of us can hold on to is “Mummy & Daddy”. But, what happens when the symbol of the greatest security becomes the most horrifying one?

She came into class, feeling responsible for all the problems that her parents are facing in their marriage. She felt that it’s all her fault that her parents are unemployed. What did she do? She stole from the teacher! She was sick and tired of what’s been happening in her home and so, she stole, hoping that bringing something home would somehow bring a smile to her parents’ faces.

How delicate are the lives of the young ones. Kids walk into our lives with different experiences and backgrounds, and sometimes, we fail to respond according to their needs because they often seem cheerful and happy. But, when we really start looking deep down at the condition of their souls, we will find that most of them are just hungry for a touch of love. All they want is for people to show them a little more loving kindness and to value them for who they are.

I reckon children’s lives are like vases- valuable and fragile. A vase that is broken will forever be left scarred and marked. Similarly, children’s life can be forever marked and scarred if they come to a point where their lives are being stretched almost beyond what they can bear. No doubt we can try to piece the broken bits back together again, but no matter how well you do it; there will always be that mark there.

I only have 12 more days before I finish my attachment in this school. There are so many things that I wish I could do for these kids, but not only do I have limited time; I also have boundaries, which I cannot cross. Nonetheless, I pray that with all the time that I have left, I will take pleasure in investing all that I have to give them a glimpse of what God’s love is all about. For each one of them, no matter what is happening in their lives, may God help me be as accommodating as I can in all possible ways and hopefully, it will serve as an encouragement for the kids to continually make the best out of their lives no matter what the circumstance.

Knowledge VS Wisdom

Our present culture promotes the idea of how knowledge itself is power. The more knowledge you have, the more powerful you are because then, you can use it for your own purposes. For this reason, it becomes usual to equate knowledge with wisdom. But, there is actually a great difference in the two of them. We can be the smartest person alive; having all kinds of knowledge, yet be the most foolish person alive at the same time when we waste our knowledge on doing the wrong things.

The Bible encourages us to equip ourselves with knowledge, but, with the right kind of knowledge. True wisdom is more than just knowing God because it also involves the proper interpretation and application of knowledge in our everyday life. It is the principal thing; the basis and foundation from whence everything else springs, and therefore, we are to seek it above all things (Prov 4:7). Knowledge without wisdom is but a powerless tool in God’s eyes.

Thus, the highest form of learning in life is the learning of wisdom and in order to obtain it, one must have the desire to want it; to be willing to sacrifice all that he has- wealth, desires, time, energy, resources. It is expensive and costly, and it may perhaps take more pains and hard work in comparison to the worldly things being pursued in life right now, but hey, guess what, in return, God is giving us all that He has! He promises a long life to those who earnestly seek it, and health for their souls.

Perhaps being wise is better than being smart, for I have seen many smart people messing around with sin even though they know that it is wrong. It is silly, but it happens. Sometimes, I fall into that trap too. It shows how choosing wisdom is not just an once-in-a-lifetime decision, but a daily commitment to the Lord in choosing between two paths:- the righteous or the wicked.

And so, dear Lord, teach me Thy way; unite my heart to fear Thy name for to fear Thy name is to hate evil. Grant me wisdom & understanding; direction & guidance in all that I say and do in life. Amen.

When Words Kill

I sometimes wish that my speech could be perfect all the time, so then I would not have to watch the disappointment and sadness that some of my careless & hurtful words can bring to a friend. I know this pain for I’ve been there before, a receiver of painful words. And no matter how remorseful I may be after saying those words, I cannot undo the damage that I’ve done. That’s the nature of speech: Once said, and it can never be retrieved.

We all know that words leave a lasting impact, but sometimes, they just leap past our lips in an instant; occasionally, even faster than our brains can consider them. In that unguarded moment, we’ve allowed foolish words to slip out of our mouths. Thus, just thinking about changing our speech is not good enough. We need to go deeper than our brains, all the way to the source of our words- our heart.

Our speech is a reflection of what is in our heart, and one can only produce good things; good speech; life-giving words, if good things are stored up in the heart (Matt 12:35). Therefore, let us make every effort to fill our heart with the wonderful works and Word of God; to nurture it, so that good and loving words may flow out of our sparkling spring- our heart.

The tongue can be an instrument of either a great deal of good, or a great deal of evil; and it has the power to bring life or death, to both its giver and receiver of words. We are free to choose whichever way we want to use it, but let us bear in mind that we will one day reap what we sow. We will be reimbursed accordingly with either the advantages or disadvantages arising from it.

Why learn?

Don't we sometimes love to question the relevance of some of the subjects that are taught in schools? For example, History. I never liked studying world history and so, I remember that when I was back in high school, I always asked, "Why do I have to study this when I'm not even going to use it in my future?" Obviously, I wasn't interested to know the answer, but just asking for the sake of arguing, hoping I could get my way through it somehow.

Likewise, in many other situations, we may not understand why we have to learn certain things, especially when we do not see their connections with our future. There is certainly some truth in that because many of us will now have very little memory of what we have learnt back in our schooling days. For some, it could also well be that they have no recollection of what they have learnt at all! =P

But, maybe God wants us to see the significance that learning has in itself. Perhaps He wants us to learn, to study & experience the process of learning, so that we can come to know Him more with the knowledge we have gained about the process of learning. It is possible that He wants us to apply the knowledge we have about the learning process to study- to wonder, observe & reflect upon His Word since the Bible is the foundation of every true knowledge in life.

It is amazing to see how God can use every lesson & experience in life to teach us more about His work amongst men. I really do have a great and awesome God!