In one of my pastor's messages he mentioned how a gal should look for a boy friend
It is very unusual ... I never heard of it before anywhere else ... I think this is also how a guy look for a girl friend too ...
so i would like to share with you ...
It is not how spiritual the person is ... (I was shocked!!!)
Yes, the person should preferably be found in church setting ... (Jesus sat at the well,
Abraham's servant found a wife for Isaac at the well, well here could mean church,
a place where you are nourished with the water of God's word) ... of the same faith ...
But what shocked me most is really a good companion or life partner is not necessarily someone
who is very busy serving the Lord in church.
Or even someone who is very busy in his/her life in his/her career.
Esp when we ourselves are the types that prefer our partner to spend time with us, with the family,
play with us, eat with us, enjoy life with us types ... if ... we find someone who is always so busy and
running around outside very much ... how can he/she afford time for his/her loved ones at home?
These family members would have to be very independant and also sacrificial
(willing to let go of the person for a bigger "good") ...
otherwise the homely partner would be at a disadvantage in the marriage.
Well, for every sacrifice that churchy partner makes, he/she better makes sure his/her family gets quality time
and attention and not have the feeling of abandonment or insecurity.
Come to think of this, we really appreciate the time and sacrifices our pastors and families
have made for our sakes. Of course I really wish and also pray for them,
that these full-time ministers would also juggle time spent in ministry as well as time spent with family appropriately.
Like I ever said, We don't need a partner who throws the Bible at us,
demanding me to meet the demands of the Word.
For example "You are wife, you must submit to me your husband." (Implying that everything he says I must obey and do???) .
We need someone who truly loves me and loves me at my level as myself ...
and knowing my faults, gently come alongside help me improve.
We don't need a nagger, neither do we need someone who is always pointing out our faults.
Really, life is too short for such nonsense.
We need someone who loves us ... fans into flames and hones our strengths.
In this way, I think we can bloom more beautifully.
Even plants respond positively to classical music and postive words,
and they respond badly when people speak terrible words to them (experimentally proven).
Likewise, this should also be how we teach our little ones too.
Not nagging, but coming alongside helping them along.
Even Jesus, the Lord of the Ressurection and the Life, did not reprimand his very loved disciple,
Thomas for saying "Let us also go, that we may die with him. " John 11:16b
What I am trying to say is, to makes things work, there must be much grace.
Grace that overlooks faults and gently reaches out in love.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Kingdom of God
Luke 17:19-21 (King James Version)
19And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
20And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Luke 12:30-32 (King James Version)
30For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
31But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
32Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Luke 18:28-30 (King James Version)
28Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.
29And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,
30Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.
John 3:3
3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John3:5
5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
1Cor 4:20
20For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
1 Corinthians 15:49-51
49And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Romans 14:17
17For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Revelation 12:10 (King James Version)
10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
19And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
20And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Luke 12:30-32 (King James Version)
30For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
31But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
32Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Luke 18:28-30 (King James Version)
28Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.
29And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,
30Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.
John 3:3
3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John3:5
5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
1Cor 4:20
20For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
1 Corinthians 15:49-51
49And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Romans 14:17
17For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Revelation 12:10 (King James Version)
10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Monday, April 7, 2008
I am righteous in Chist
In the past, as often as I confessed my sins and prayed for forgiveness, the prayer requests that followed after that, I just felt that they are pure and are heard and will definitely be answered. Especially when these requests are unselfish and for the general good. It was such simple faith.
Now, as I am older and understand more about righteousness ... there is a great difference between my own righteousness and His righteousness.
In the verse, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Notice that it is His righteousness that we need to seek and not ours per se.
So what on earth is His righteousness?
As we all know ... the prayer of the righteous man accomplishes much. Also the prayer of a righteous woman too ... of course ....
I have been having this knot in my mind, this mental block for quite a while
to reconcile or understand the difference between the two kinds of righteousnesses.
My own righteousness and His righteousness.
Mind you, our own righteousness is like filthy rags, in the original Hebrew language the word filthy rag literally means a woman's soiled sanitary napkin.
So we really cannot depend on our own righteousness when we approach the throne room of our Abba Father, our Daddy God.
So it is not by our own works nor our own merits that we come to Him.
It is purely and entirely by His grace ... and banging upon His righteousness, not ours.
When I recite "I am the righteouness of God in Christ" often, I still don't get what I was saying for a couple of years already. You may say I am slow. But seriously, I am trying to figure out what is this righteousness of God all about?
Esp when you read the verse in Isaiah 54 verse 17
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
not our own righteousness but of His ...
Somehow, I still don't get it ... until recently yesterday or today ...
deep inside of me ... I seem to gather these 3 words ... righteous in Christ ...
instead of the longer version "I am the righteousness of God in Christ" ... the shorter form is "I am righteous in Christ"
Now this is much easier to grasp.
Not my own good works nor my own failures ... but I am in Christ!
In Christ I am righteous, perfectly righteous before Abba.
Now what did I say I wanted from Abba?
I receive glory, I receive favour, I receive love, I receive joy, I receive success, I receive every blessing found in the completed work of Christ on the cross died only as if only for me alone.
all these things ... shall be added unto you ... if you seek first His kingdom (that is within you, righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit), and His righteousness.
So there is no more set backs or unanswered prayers that you know He would not hear, nor would he answer. No more ... no more feeling that our words bounce off the ceiling and never reach our Abba's ears.
Since we are IN CHRIST and CHRIST is His most beloved Son, and we are in Christ,
we are also His most beloved.
Ask anything in Jesus' name and He will do it. (the word "ask" here denotes demand or ask in a firm way)
Cheers fellow righteous in Christ!
Now you can be sure Abba surely answers our prayers ...
yes, every prayer ...
that good huh? yeah ... that good ...
why don't you try it?
O, I almost forgotten, my Pastor preached a very powerful truth on Sunday,
remember the scriptures on the mount of transfiguration? when Jesus and his disciples came down from the mount, many people ran towards them.
A man approached Jesus to cast out a demon in his only son.
And Jesus did. And the crowd was amazed at the wonderful work of God.
My Pastor said, why is it that the crowd was not amazed at the work of the devil?
We are God's children, God's miracles should be our daily life encounters. We should only be amazed if we encounter the works of the devil in our lives. Because the devil has no right to impose such on us as we have all been redeemed from the curse of the law (see Galatians 3) ... we should not accept such symtons of the curse at all ... be amazed beloved if there are sicknesses, debts, etc ... hovering around us ... for these certainly do not belong in the kingdom of God.
Hope you enjoy the canded sharing.
Now, as I am older and understand more about righteousness ... there is a great difference between my own righteousness and His righteousness.
In the verse, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Notice that it is His righteousness that we need to seek and not ours per se.
So what on earth is His righteousness?
As we all know ... the prayer of the righteous man accomplishes much. Also the prayer of a righteous woman too ... of course ....
I have been having this knot in my mind, this mental block for quite a while
to reconcile or understand the difference between the two kinds of righteousnesses.
My own righteousness and His righteousness.
Mind you, our own righteousness is like filthy rags, in the original Hebrew language the word filthy rag literally means a woman's soiled sanitary napkin.
So we really cannot depend on our own righteousness when we approach the throne room of our Abba Father, our Daddy God.
So it is not by our own works nor our own merits that we come to Him.
It is purely and entirely by His grace ... and banging upon His righteousness, not ours.
When I recite "I am the righteouness of God in Christ" often, I still don't get what I was saying for a couple of years already. You may say I am slow. But seriously, I am trying to figure out what is this righteousness of God all about?
Esp when you read the verse in Isaiah 54 verse 17
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
not our own righteousness but of His ...
Somehow, I still don't get it ... until recently yesterday or today ...
deep inside of me ... I seem to gather these 3 words ... righteous in Christ ...
instead of the longer version "I am the righteousness of God in Christ" ... the shorter form is "I am righteous in Christ"
Now this is much easier to grasp.
Not my own good works nor my own failures ... but I am in Christ!
In Christ I am righteous, perfectly righteous before Abba.
Now what did I say I wanted from Abba?
I receive glory, I receive favour, I receive love, I receive joy, I receive success, I receive every blessing found in the completed work of Christ on the cross died only as if only for me alone.
all these things ... shall be added unto you ... if you seek first His kingdom (that is within you, righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit), and His righteousness.
So there is no more set backs or unanswered prayers that you know He would not hear, nor would he answer. No more ... no more feeling that our words bounce off the ceiling and never reach our Abba's ears.
Since we are IN CHRIST and CHRIST is His most beloved Son, and we are in Christ,
we are also His most beloved.
Ask anything in Jesus' name and He will do it. (the word "ask" here denotes demand or ask in a firm way)
Cheers fellow righteous in Christ!
Now you can be sure Abba surely answers our prayers ...
yes, every prayer ...
that good huh? yeah ... that good ...
why don't you try it?
O, I almost forgotten, my Pastor preached a very powerful truth on Sunday,
remember the scriptures on the mount of transfiguration? when Jesus and his disciples came down from the mount, many people ran towards them.
A man approached Jesus to cast out a demon in his only son.
And Jesus did. And the crowd was amazed at the wonderful work of God.
My Pastor said, why is it that the crowd was not amazed at the work of the devil?
We are God's children, God's miracles should be our daily life encounters. We should only be amazed if we encounter the works of the devil in our lives. Because the devil has no right to impose such on us as we have all been redeemed from the curse of the law (see Galatians 3) ... we should not accept such symtons of the curse at all ... be amazed beloved if there are sicknesses, debts, etc ... hovering around us ... for these certainly do not belong in the kingdom of God.
Hope you enjoy the canded sharing.
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