Monday, April 21st, 2008
We are each given a gift from God. More like a gift through the Holy Spirit. But we don’t realize it! We don’t realize the passion that we are capable of receiving. We don’t realize that we have each been designed to do great things for God. Each unique, each with a plan in mind.
When we sit back and see others do crazy things for God. And if you can’t help but wonder what God’s plan is for you. Don’t forget to ask! Seriously ask God what He can give you, and what His plans are for you.
When you ask, you will receive.
Sounds easy, and you may be like “but what if I ask and I don’t receive?” .. or “How do I listen to God?”
But know it takes faith to ask! Ask and don’t ask half-heartedly. Ask in complete faith and believe you will receive an answer. Ask and take the time to ask God. Don’t just ask, and forget to listen for the reply. Spend time waiting on the Lord.
Have faith that in waiting you will hear God’s voice. Like any normal relationship, you gotta ask and wait for a reply. The asking and waiting are both in prayer. And just cause you don’t hear a reply right away – doesn’t mean He hasn’t given you one. If your friend takes a day to reply to your question, doesn’t mean he/she has said “no” in the absence of a reply.
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
- James 1:5-7
It takes faith to ask and even more faith to receive what God has given you.
Monday, April 21st, 2008
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You are my strength
Strength like no other
Strength like no other
Reaches to me
You are my hope
Hope like no other
Hope like no other
Reaches to me
In the fullness of Your grace
In the power of Your Name
You lift me up
You lift me up
Unfailing love
Stronger than mountains
Deeper than oceans
Reaches to me
Your love O Lord
Reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness
Reaches to the skies
–
If I had to bold the parts of the lyrics I loved, the whole thing would be bolded. This song is so powerful.
Friday, April 18th, 2008
Sacrifices move people. They melt people. They stop people in their tracks and make them ask, “Why? Why would you go out of your way for me? What would motivate you to put my interests before your own?”
What makes our faith so powerful is the sacrifice on the cross. Sacrifice
Can you imagine, a friend sacrificing themselves for you, and how profound that impact would be in your life. Luckily for us, sacrifices don’t always have to come in the form of crucifixion in order to make an impact. Little things go a long way. People talk and share about the things we do for each other, and the things that we take for granted. It’s a common story for me to hear a testimony where it was all triggered by someone’s sacrifice for them.
So know that when we sacrifice things in our lives to genuinely portray what Jesus did for us on the cross. We can move mountains and save lives; small investments with big dividends.
We all live crazy busy lives. We never have enough time to do the things we want to do. No matter what, we’re all busy epicenters; booming with our own activity. And when we live in a world where every moment counts – a small sacrifice of time is never gone wasted. We rub shoulders with seekers everyday, and sometimes all their looking for is someone who is willing to put in a little bit of time to come to a conclusion about spiritual truths. They may not tell you they’re seeking, but if you look for that chance to sacrifice your time – you will find them. But we’re so busy, with our own lives, we forget to give time to them to explain to them what our faith is about. It might only take a lunch for you to give the gift of life, but we’d much rather do our own thing.
We grossly underestimate what we gain by risking and sacrificing our time with others. When was the last time you gave the gift of time to someone else? Are you too busy to look around you and save lives?
Sometimes authenticity fails to grab people’s attention; compassion is occasionally written off as the opiate of do-gooders who may have some ulterior motive. But sacrifice, motivated by genuine love and concern, is extremely difficult to discount.
- Bill Hybels
The other thing that really grabs people by the horns is the sacrifice of material wealth. Sacrifice of our earthly resources. In a world where we define success by the income we make, and see people intoxicated by their desires for material goods – all we have to do is re-invest our resources to meet their needs before our own. Besides, we’re just stewards! And watch as we turns heads with our actions. Like I mentioned earlier, small investment with big dividends. And when you’re drawing your resources from a bank that really belongs to God, watch as you are rewarded with double of what you started. It may not come back as the form of money, but as the form of saved lives.
How much more exciting is it to see one person come to Christ, for the heavens will be rejoicing over every saved soul. How much longer will our rewards last in heaven than the things that will rot and decay in this world. For we know not when the thief in the night will come to steal away our treasures, but we know that the things we store in heaven are eternal.
So sacrifice a bit more in your life if you havn’t already. Whether it be time or personal resources. It might not be worth it in terms of secular views; but it’s definitely worth it from my point of view.
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
Are you living a life that leads your friends to Christ, but forgeting to ask them to commit?
What I’ve realized, is that for most of my life, I’ve been living a life that displays to others that I’m a Christian. And that indeed is what I want, but the goal is to help them come to Christ. Not to just show them what I have.
And in a sense, I’m like a salesman that does an awesome job at giving a sale pitch, but never asks for the order. What I should be doing is going that final step, and challenging/asking people to take the last step.
So from today onwards, let this be my reminder of what I have to do.
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
Tag Clouds are the new internet mullets.
I was looking at my tag cloud, and it’s interesting to see that the top three tags (words) used in my blog are:
1. God (101)
2. Real (91)
3. Life (71)
Tells you something eh? I find that pretty cool
More…