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Wednesday, 30 September 2009

Reflection

It seem like it has been ages since I have wrote anything here... That's because it has been ages. Well unfortunately or fortunately, life caught up with me and so many things have been happening... Like getting married, new family, new church, new people to get to know and look after.
Well I can't say it has been boring but all in all, God has been good in every way. Sometimes it is so easy to be forgetful about the goodness and greatness of God until something bad happens, but looking back and reflecting on the year it has been. I can honestly say that God has been there and He has been awesome!
Life doesn't just happen nor does it appear. It is something that is pursued and lived out with passion. But living without people is an empty gong. Life is to be lived before God and with people, and it is in those days, we see the reality of God in ours and other people's lives.
Step out, take a deep breath, look around and enjoy!

Friday, 12 June 2009

Living for a greater cause

"On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king's hall." - Esther 5:1a
In today's world, there is so much concentration about the "I" or "me" factor that we lose sight of what life is really about. I love the book of Esther, basically because it has everything a great story needs. One thing that captures me is that Esther was a woman who lived for a cause greater than herself. God used this woman to save the entire Jewish people from extermination.
Another thing I realised that to be used by God did not come at an easy price. Before God could use her, she had to come to a place of dying to self. Her uncle Mordecai was the instrument God used to challenge her to rise up to the task.
Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this? (Esther 4:13b-14)
Mordecai was telling it straight. Mordecai did not make it soft and fluffy for her, it was a cut straight to the heart of the situation. Now the attitude in terms of how Esther accepts the correction will help determine what she is going to do. For her to speak up meant great risks if the king did not receive her. It was automatic death if the king did not extend his scepter, which meant acceptance of her approach to the throne. It was also a time to realize that God may have brought her to this place and time for this specific purpose. However, if she did not respond in faith, God would use another instrument to deliver the people. What would she do?
Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish (Esther 4:16).
On the third day of the fast she came and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king's hall. She was like Jesus who stood in the inner court of Heaven on that third, resurrection day. She gave up her life, but God raised it up on that day and delivered an entire people from destruction because of one woman's willingness to give up her life for a greater cause. God has called each of us to a purpose greater than ourselves. Know that it will require death before life can be given to this purpose. It must be His life that lives, not ours.

Tuesday, 09 June 2009

Two times a wedding reception..

Busy busy again... for the wedding.
Nope, I am getting married the second time. Well not, technically.. We (my wife and I) just been getting ready to head over to Indonesia for the second wedding reception, which is going to be bigger than the one we had here and I am suspecting "grander" as well. But for some reason, the same energy and excitement isn't there. Maybe cause we have been so busy that we haven't really thought about it. Or may be it is the fact that we haven't had a lot of input into the preparations. For myself, it is the fact that this is my first time to Indonesia and I have not idea what to expect as well as the size of the reception are the cause of the nerves. Need God to help me with that side of things.
Well, here's to jumping into the deep end..

Thursday, 04 June 2009

Killing of Good Works

Reading through 2 Kings last night, got me thinking; Joisah spend so much time doing a "spring clean" all over Israel, getting rid of all the idols that was build up over the years. Then after he died, there were several "bad" kings that did evil and led the Israelites back into idolarty again.
This had me thinking, what is the point of trying to do what is right when at the end of the day it takes one bad thing to spoil the whole thing. The funny thing is that, it doesn't matter what you have done and how much good it is, it just takes one bad to tear the whole thing down. It's not like no one has ever not done a bad thing in their lives before, it is just that they forget theirs and focus on others. Why? Don't know.
What is the point of trying to do what is right? Even if your heart is in the right place, someone will twist that motive to be something else then spread it all over the place. At the end of the day, you try to do what is right just to be kick down again. The funny thing is that things gets dragged out from the past time and time again. So you ask the question when does it end?
It is thankful I look to a God that takes my mistakes, failures and screws, buries it at the ocean floor (otherwise I would be in real deep trouble.) A God that do not hold my sin against me, strives to teach me what is right and wrong. Next time the "Bad Ol' Pusspycat" comes crawling, call Granny (God) to give it a swift "whack" with that ol' umbrella.

Tuesday, 02 June 2009

ANYONE WANT A GENIE?

⁶So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. ⁷That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁸For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." - Luke 7:6-8 -
Driving in today, there was an advertisement for house-cleaning service with a genie doing his magic and bang! The house is clean. Then it had me thinking. I was wondering what happened to Aladdin after he won the princess. Would he have turn into a big, over-sized, spoil brat who gets everything he wanted?

The thing about having a genie is that, it makes us fat and spoil. If we can just sit there, snap our fingers and pressio! The house is clean. Snap! And garden is done. Snap! Dinner is ready. Snap! A beautiful partner is there to wait on us. If this is the case, I think a couple of things will may happen:

1) We get fatter and lazier!
2) We become the hoarder of things
3) We get bored with life and start to take things for granted
4) We become more inpatient and short-temper as we get into the state of mind of "we want it and want it now"
5) We will never grow and develop as a person. Rather we will still be in our infancy where tantrums are thrown when things to work the way we want it too, rather than working through things. We learn to scheme and deceive to get what we want.

This passage of the centurion has to be one of the great encounters a person has with Jesus. The centurion wasn't just looking for a genie for a quick fix to life's solutions. He was looking for a permenant solution to see his daughter fully recovered and in the process, I believe found something greater. He found a faith that even surprised the Son of God and in the process found life for him and his daughter. He grew as a spiritual and physical man that day. But he didn't take charge of the situation, he allow Jesus to take charge of the situation. He understood what authority was and in order for anything sufficient to be achieve, he had to submit to the lordship of Jesus.

What are we after in our Christian walk? A genie? or A Lord?