Christmas Reflection

Well I was asked by my church to present a Christmas reflection to the congregation tonight. I was thinking what can I do? And the idea of a blog post popped in my mind immediately. Well I think that it's time to not just share a reflection, but to reflect on the significance of the birth of my saviour.

We've all heard of Santa Clause

and reindeer.

We know all about the magic of standing

beneath a mistletoe with our loved one.

We know about the elves who work hard to make our toys 

for Christmas and

about Santa's tough night.

We strive to get on his good list and 

struggle to sleep on time so that 

he can come and deliver our gifts for us.

But something is missing in this picture, isn't it?

What about that nativity scene

that pops up every once in a 

while in someones yard?

Is that important too?

Why is it not as popular as Santa Clause and his reindeer?

At this time of year, so many things are going through our mind. 

We want to get all our Christmas shopping in

 and prepare for the big meals that 

we will be having on the day.

We get hit with the stress of hanging

the Christmas lights outside

and putting up the tree and stockings inside.

And as we're doing all these things, we might even listen to the Christmas

songs that they play on the radio.

But with all these things on our mind,

sometimes we forget the actual story.

It's not Santa Clause and his reindeer that we're celebrating 

like what the radio is telling us.

It's not about getting on Santa's good list.

Remember the line?

"You better watch out, you better not cry,

you better not pout I'm telling you why,

Santa Clause is coming to town. He's making a list, 

he's checking it twice, he's gonna find out who's naughty or nice,

Santa Clause is coming to town"

Have you ever ACTUALLY paid attention to the lyrics?

It's telling us to prepare ourselves for Santa's arrival.

But what about preparing ourselves for Jesus' arrival?

Sure he arrived 2000 years ago, but isn't it 

still important enough to prepare ourselves for the day that he arrived every year

and celebrate it?

What about Santa's list, let's look at that.

It kind of reminded me of God's list.

His big Book of Life. In which he puts all the believer's names.

But you don't get your name in the book if you are good all year,

like Santa's list. 

We don't have to worry about pleasing God.

We are permanently in the Book of Life

once we accept him.

Unlike Santa's list which is only annual.

"The angel said to them, 

"Do not be afraid. 

I am bringing you good news that will be joy to all the people. 

Today your SAVIOUR was born in the town of David. 

He is Christ, the Lord. 

This is how you you will know him: 

You will find a baby wrapped in pieces of cloth and lying in a feeding box."

Luke 2:10-12

 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are not just an insignificant village in

Judah.

A ruler will come from you

who will be like a shepherd for my

people Israel.'

Micah 5:2

The amazing thing about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ

is that although he is God and is also God's Son,

his birth wasn't a big thing.

In Micah, it says that Bethlehem, the village in which Jesus was born

was insignificant. 

It also says in Luke that the Shepherds, 

which were the men that the angel was talking to,

would know that they found the SAVIOUR 

when they see a baby wrapped in 

cloth and lying in a feeding box.

Personally,

I don't think that this is the greatest birth locations for a saviour.

Actually, this has to be one of the worst.

Why would a saviour be wrapped in, not just one, which is normal,

but many pieces of cloth?

And to make matters worse,

he was born in a FEEDING BOX!

Shouldn't he get a more sophisticated location?

And somewhere where many people would know that

it is a very significant birth?

Well the fact that the message was delivered by an angel,

probably had more significance than

the feeding box. 

That's the amazing part,

the birth of our Saviour was so small and 

insignificant but at the same time was so significant!

Okay then, 

let's take a look at this verse:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: 

The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, 

and will call him Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14:

So not only did he not have a normal birth,

but he also was born from a virgin!

That is not possible!

This truly shows that only one person can be behind this

miraculous birth, and that is God.

Jesus was born in a small animal's keep in the back of a full inn

in an insignificant village 

and the message of his birth was delivered by an angel

 and was born from

an insignificant woman that 

was a virgin.

Can any one's birth be anymore

out of the ordinary?

But God had a purpose and a reason for all of this.

But we cannot explain the reason to why God chose all of those

events for the birth of His Son.

"His thoughts are not our thoughts,

His ways are not our ways"

He was born in a messy place

to save a messy world.

But all these events show us that Jesus

is accessible to everyone. 

A homeless person can find some connection with him,

for Jesus never truly had a place to call home.

Needy people can relate because Jesus himself was poor and not wealthy.

Maybe this is the reason why God had chosen for these events,

but all we can do is praise the Father in Heaven,

and his Son for saving us and 

sending us a mediator so that we can find a way to be with the 

Father eternally.

And for delivering us out of the hands of evil,

and into the hands of love and peace.

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Stand Up

I was reading in Matthew last night from chapter 3-6 and I have read through Matthew before, but by reading through it again, your eyes pick up things that have great significance in your life than they picked up before. One of the passages that stood out to me most was a passage in Matthew 5.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a hill and sat down. His followers came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:

"They are blessed who realize their

spiritual poverty,

for the kingdom of heaven belongs to

them.

They are blessed who grieve,

for God will comfort them.

They are blessed who are humble,

for the whole earth will be theirs.

They are blessed who hunger and thirst

after justice, 

for they will be satisfied.

They are blessed who show mercy to

others,

for God will show mercy to them.

They are blessed whose thoughts are pure,

for they will see God.

They are blessed who work for peace,

for they will be God's children.

They are blessed who are persecuted 

for doing good,

for the kingdom of heaven belongs to

them.

"People will insult you and hurt you. They will lie and say all kinds of evil things about you because you follow me. But when they do, you will be blessed. Rejoice and be glad, because you have a great reward waiting for you in heaven. People did the same evil things to the prophets who lived before you.""

Matthew 5:1-11

"In the same way, you should be a light for

other people. Live so that they will see the

good things you do and will praise your

Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:16

These two verses are really encouraging to me. I find that it's hard not to act as the world acts and set myself apart from it. I'm pretty sure you feel the same way too sometimes. If we act differently, we're scared of what others might think about us and what others might tell others about us. So we just act like everyone else; Pray at home before we eat, but don't pray at school before lunch, when we're at a friend's house or even at a restaurant. We soon get used to it that we don't even consider it. I know I've gotten to the point where I forget to pray before I eat my lunch at school and I've only realized it recently. I do not like that at all, and I will try to remember to pray before eating. But that isn't our only concern....there's also standing up for our faith. Even like the simple thing of telling others not to swear around us because we do not want those words in our minds, we want to have clean minds. This will let others see that you're different. It could be a good and bad thing. But should we let the worry of it being bad get to our heads? Is that what Jesus tells us to do? No! He tells us that people will insult us and hate us because we follow him. He also tells us that we will be blessed if we do what he tells us and we will be rewarded for the times that people will let us down because of our faith! He calls us to be a light for other people and live the way that he has called us to live so that they will see the good things that we do. See? If you follow him whole heartedly then you will be greatly rewarded. Do not be scared to stand up for your faith.

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Sick of Sin, But There's a Hope Within

Sick of Sin

This world is falling apart

Part by part, little pieces of hope are floating away

Losing any evidence of it being there.

People lose trust in their neighbour

They seem trustworthy from the outside,

But we all know that's just a mask hiding what is really inside their hearts.

It's just a community of pushing people down to get to the top

Instead of building each other up.

Diseases are like drops of rain falling to the ground

It just builds up momentum as it lands on one man

Soon there's many raindrops falling on everyone.

Mud fills all clear and fresh bodies of water, creating mud in other's hearts.

Soon, there's no hint of a clear picture of good life anymore.

Some people deny the reality and try to live out the good from the bad,

but it's all too clear that the bad is too overwhelming.

Putting on a face of confidence is what we all do

To hide all the hurt, depression, sadness, and sickness

that dwell in our hearts, minds and bodies.

It is all too clear that Sin is a large blanket

covering our heads

Like a child covers it's head from the creatures that lurk the darkness

in their rooms.

We are scared to change the way we live to living in the light

because we have never seen the results.

Sinning is a common trend in the world that we want to fit in too,

we don't want to be colour in shades of grey.

But we are missing the point that it's not all about us,

it's not all about who we were, are, and will be.

It's not about our pictures and their frames.

It's not about how muddy our lives are 

or how muddy others can make your life become.

It's not about our shades of grey,

or our everyday masquerades.

It's not about the individual rain drops that disfigure 

our families and our bodies.

It's not about the blanket that we cover ourselves with,

or our fear that makes us act upon our illogical decisions.

We don't need to hide anymore,

we don't need to worry about the rain,

we don't need to live in the grey or under the blankets.

We shouldn't have to worry about our muddy paths.

There's a Hope

It's all about the hope that we now have.
We don't need to look at our past anymore.
Our lives may be full of dirt,
but because of the Son's sacrifice,
Jesus' death on the Cross,
all the Father sees in us is the Son.
But does he see him in everyone?
Well those who accept the Son,
also accept the Father.
Those who accept the Father,
should also accept the Son.
If you do not accept either,
how is the Father supposed to give you the free gift of salvation
from your sin, worries,
and trials?
We need to trust in our Father.

We need to let him work in our lives,

we need to let him re-sculpt us

for we deformed his original masterpiece.
Jesus says, "...you don't have enough faith!
But I can promise you this.
If you had faith no larger than a mustard seed,
you could tell the mountain to move from here to there.
And it would.
Everything would be possible for you."
Matthew 17:20-21

See? All we need is faith in Him,
the one who created us,
breathed in us the breath of life.
For without him, we would be nothing,
without purpose.
And I encourage you to live up to that purpose,
do not let it slip through your hands,
do not cover it with sand so that the tide will wash it away.
Treasure it,
live up to it,
explore it and encourage others through it.
Let God fulfill his plans for your life.
Even with you doing your part,
you will influence others and even change their lives from
worse to better.
Through this, they will learn to influence others as well
and many people will be changed and will
have a reason to live their lives with hope
that things can get better and that they don't have to be afraid anymore.
He will cradle us like children and tell us with a soft,

calming whisper to get out of those blankets and look at what we could
make the world become.
He creates hope in our hearts and a new type of confidence.
We will know that with Him, 

we can change the broken and make it whole.
Our world won't have to be a rain forest or a drought.
Our paths will be clear and even with the storms
in our paths, we can face them with the hope that we have in Him.
For we know that even through death,
the Son of Man conquered death.
And that now, we have an eternal life with him through our own death.
There is a hope,
and a reason for the life that you're living.
Never give up for the God of the universe created you for a purpose.
YOU ARE INDIVIDUALLY PRECIOUS TO GOD
AND HE HAS A WONDERFUL ADVENTURE WAITING FOR YOU
ARE YOU READY TO ACCEPT IT?

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God's Got it Under Control, But Do YOU Have Faith that He Does?

Lately, I've been struggling with what God's plans for me are. I thought I had it figured out last year, but you never really know for sure what God is planning on bringing you through, what trials, feelings, emotions...you just don't know. Well I've been struggling with school and piano and my time with God the most. I didn't know how to manage my time and give time for each. I'd wake up super early everyday to finish unfinished homework and go to sleep really late to finish the homework. I wouldn't touch the piano more than twice a week although my teacher recommended an hour and a half every day, I was doing 2 hours a week! While struggling with that, I just couldn't get any of the lessons that my teachers taught in school because I was too tired from trying to figure out the homework the night before. You can imagine how that turns out. Aside from that, I've been trying to set some time aside for God and make sure I spent the right amount of time with him and learning more about him, problem was, I would do that way too late at night. So many things buzzing in my head at once, all the people I've disappointed, all the confusion and stress being taken out on my family. My attitude changed into an anger machine and I didn't know what to do about all my problems other than to yell and get angry at people for no reason.
That's how we as humans deal with our problems, right? We don't have the strength to turn that anger into peace. Our human bodies are too small to handle such complex problems. At that moment we turn to God and say that we cannot solve this on our own, we need his help because we are nothing and compared to him, our problems are just little ants waiting for God to play "Pop Goes the Weasel" with. I cried out to him every night, just asking him to give me some answers, and you know, through that, I noticed a way that God answers our cries. He doesn't just give you the answer like that, no! He sends people in your life, kind of like the prophets from the old testament, to help you and assist you. To point out the things you're missing, to bring you peace and happiness. He provided me with assistance and a little boost to improve things through people in my everyday life. Bit by bit, God is helping me solve my problems. Something that also helped me through was reciting my favourite verses every night to keep me going.

Sing praises to the Lord, 

you who belong to Him. 

Praise his holy name. 

For his anger lasts only a moment,

but his kindness lasts a lifetime.

Crying may last for the night,

but joy comes in the morning.

Psalm 30:4-5

I look up to the hills,

but where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

He will not let you be defeated.

He who guards you never sleeps.

He who guards Israel never rests or sleeps.

The Lord guards you,

The Lord is the shade that protects you from the sun.

The sun cannot hurt you during the day,

and the moon cannot hurt you at night.

The Lord will protect you from all dangers;

he will guard your life.

The Lord will guard you as you come and go,

both now and forever.

Psalm 121

 Psalm 121 just provides more than the comfort you need. It emphasizes how the Lord will guard you and protect you, how he will not let you be defeated and it just warms my heart to read this. The Lord knows your troubles and he knows what you will need in order to conquer them. 

As we go out to fight in battle, we are unprepared and have little faith that we can defeat our enemies, we think that we would most likely not come back. We forget the power that our God has and we lose our faith. Our God sees our stuggles and as we start heading out to the battle field, he hands us our armour and swords. He tells us that if our armour gets destroyed that there will be extras. He tells us that he will put fear in our enemies hearts to help us destroy them.

This is a comparison that I made to our lives. Our battles are our everyday struggles. Our enemies are the ones that cause the struggle. They could be homework, doubts, lies, people who hurt us, depression, hurt, or gossip. Sometimes, in the midst of our worrying we forget that God is greater than all of our enemies, and we try to conquer our problems ourselves. But, without the Lord, we are unprepared. We cannot fight off our enemies on our own. They conquered our thoughts in the beginning, they filled our heads with negativity and we cannot overcome them. We are weak. But the Lord knows our stuggles, he feels our pain and he puts reminders in our lives that he is greater and that if we keep our faith in him, we will be able to conquer the negatives. Just like God put people in my life to guide me and how he reminded me of those verses every night, he will definitely help you. You just have to be watchful of those things that he's going to place in your life to get you back on the narrow path again. You need to find those things and remind yourself that "this is God's plan" and that he has it under control. All you have to do is believe that he does and renew your faith in him.

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Each Bears a Part of Your Sorrow

It tells of One whose loving heart

Can feel my deepest woe;

Who in each sorrow bears a part

That none can bear below.

This is part of the hymn "Oh How I Love Jesus" and as we were singing this song as a congregation yesterday at church, I couldn't help but close my eyes for a second and picture this coming to life. I pictured God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, as it says " Who in each sorrow bears a part", just taking the pain, the sorrow, the emptiness that we feel throughout our lives so that we don't have to feel all of it because they know that it would be more than we can bear. In my picture, they were sad and it reminded me of how Jesus wept when he saw Mary and Martha grieving for Lazarus, he felt their pain. And just the thought of a Holy Being feeling sad for someone as worthless as I just brings joy and happiness to my heart. People on earth may not be able to understand all that you're going through, but God can and he does! Isn't that amazing?! We can just praise the Lord some more.

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The Good Shepherd

Behold your God! 

He shall feed His flock like a shepherd:

He shall gather the lambs with His arm,

and carry them in His bosom,

and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Isaiah 40:9-11

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,

and meted out heaven with the span,

and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,

and weighed the mountains in scales, 

and the hills in a balance?

Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord,

on being his counsellor hath taught Him?

With whom took He counsel,

and who instructed Him,

and taught him in the path of judgement,

and taught Him knowledge,

and showed to him the way of understanding?

Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket,

and are counted as the small dust of the balance:

behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

Isaiah 40:12-15

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Is God Inside Yours?

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It's Stormy Now, Doesn't Mean It Will End That Way

You may not see the beauty while in the midst of the storm, but God knows what lies behind. All you need is faith and strength provided by God to get through the bumpy and muddy path that is holding you back. Your destination will be worth it. :)

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Just Cast Your Burdens on HIM, He Will Carry Them For You

"For I have satiated(satisfied) the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul." (Jeremiah 31:25)

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

So cast your burdens upon HIM and he will exchange your depression, sadness, sorrow, hurt and any negative feeling, with comfort. :)

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You Are On HIS Mind

While He was on the cross, 

you were on His mind.

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The Greatest of These is LOVE

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

1 Corinthians 13:13

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Compare and See

Zechariah:

Written between 520 and 480 B.C.

Says: Chapter 11: 12-14 {Then I said, "If you want to pay me, pay me. If not, then don't." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.

The Lord said to me, "Throw the money to the potter." That is how little they thought I was worth. (about the price paid for a slave) So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the Temple of the Lord.

Then I broke the second stick, named Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.}

Now doesn't this sound familiar? Let's travel to between 50 and 70 A.D. In the book of Matthew.

Chapter 27: 3-10 { Judas, the one who had given Jesus to his enemies, saw that they had decided to kill Jesus. Then he was very sorry for what he had done. So he took the thirty silver coins had done. So he took the thirty silver coins back to the priests and the leaders, saying, "I have sinned; I handed over to you an innocent man."

The leaders answered, "What is that to us? That's your problem, not ours."

So Judas threw the money into the Temple.

Then he went off and hanged himself.

The leading priests picked up the silver coins in the Temple and said, "Our law does not allow us to keep this money with the Temple money, because it has paid for a man's death." So they decided to use the coins to buy Potter's Field as a place to bury strangers who died in Jerusalem. That is why that field is still called the Field of Blood. So what Jeremiah the prophet had said came true: "They took thirty silver coins. That is how little the Israelites thought he was worth. They used those thirty silver coins to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me."}

Not only had it been said in Jeremiah, but also in Zechariah!

Did you think that the Pharisees bought Potter's Field because it was written in the scriptures? I can bet that the scriptures did not pass their mind during that moment. They were excellent teachers of the law but they were thinking of a useful way to use the money, but they did not know that they were fulfilling the prophecies.

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Your Beautiful Child

You look at me and say, you are my beautiful child and I love you. 

You look past my wrongs and my mistakes. 

You tell me that there is still hope and a way.

 You encourage me and support me to do what is right and give me the wisdom and strength to know and avoid what is wrong. 

when I am weary and stressed and want to give up, 

you tell me to just throw all that is wearing me out at you and you pick 

me up on your shoulders and carry me the rest of the way. 

You are my real Father and you never abandon me or ignore me. 

You know what is best for me. 

You tell me that I will go through some really tough times, 

but through those times, 

to never doubt you for you always have the best plan for me and you are waiting for the right time to put it to action. 

You care about me and love me and I know this.

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You are Precious to Me and I Love You

Now this is what the Lord says.

He created you, people of Jacob;

he formed you, people of Israel.

He says, "Don't be afraid, because I have saved you.

I have called you by name, and you are mine. (Isaiah 43:1)

Now Jacob(Israel) was a cheater his whole life. He cheated his father, his brother, and his uncle. But this is what the Lord says:

"Because you are precious to me,

because I will give you honour and love you," (Isaiah 43:4)

Isn't that amazing?! After cursing the Lord, after blaming him for all our problems that we have created, we are still precious in his sight and he loves us. ♥

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Happy Birthday Mommy!

So it's another year that you're going through,

and as you're going through it you are growing in wisdom, spirit, and sadly, age.

But don't be disappointed mother,

God has been using you throughout your years and each year, He's been preparing you

to do the work that He has planned for you.

I believe that one of His plans was to raise up godly children, 

and I can say that you have done a very good job at that. 

I thank you for bringing me up in the Lord and without your help, 

I don't know where I'd be in life. 

I wouldn't be as happy,

as hopeful,

as compassionate,

as loving,

as kind,

or as serving. 

I would be lost in this world with no knowing what will become of me when I leave this world.

I would be another Lost Sheep.

I believe that God has chosen you to be my mother because

He knew that I would need someone to guide me and teach me about Him

so that I could be used to spread the good news of His grace. 

He used you to raise up a family that loves Him greatly and will forever be faithful to Him.

He used you to be strong for me and to encourage me to grow in Him.

He used you to help me become wiser, not only in school, but in the world.

So that whenever I have to make a decision, I will know what is the right choice.

He used you to help me live a healthy lifestyle.

If you do not know what the effect you have on my life,

then look at me now and see if you find pleasure in the project that God has given you to create.

You are what has helped me to become who I am now, with the help of the Lord of course.

Look back on the years that you have counselled me and taught me about making right decisions,

how to think right,

how to study right,

how to greet others the right way,

how to be a servant of the Lord and how to serve people,

how to live the right way,

how to act right,

how to be the person that God would like me to be.

Although you may feel like you aren't doing much,

you are actually creating the future.

You are saving my life. 

When I'm older and live alone,

I will not get myself into trouble or into situations that I will regret.

I love you very much mother and you are truly a hero in my life.

You really saved me from what dangers this world could bring to me if I wasn't prepared.

I wish that the years could go by slower so that I could enjoy you more.

You are a role model and I will lead my children in the same way that you lead me.

They will be blessed with an amazing grandmother as I have been greatly blessed with an amazing mother.

You have made such a great impact on me and I just wanted you to know 

what you have done in my life, on your birthday.

So have a blessed and wonderful birthday mommy. 

, Anny

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God's Temple

Now I felt kind of uneasy when my friend asked me to post about how we should dress as Christians. Like what's appropriate and what isn't. See, I don't even know myself what is appropriate or not. Sometimes I want to give in to what's "In" and wear revealing things. It's really hard for me to want to understand what God wants me to wear. So when my friend asked me to post about this topic, I dismissed it. I didn't want to say something and then not do it myself. I didn't want to be hypocritical. So those of you who are exactly like me, we will work through this issue together.

So I was just at a camp and the speaker brought up a topic about how we are God's temple. I found it really interesting. As 1 Corinthians 3:16 states:

Do you not know that you are the

temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

So if we are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in us, then how should we dress so that we are a holy temple? 

And what agreement has the temple of God

with idols?

For you are the temple of the living God.

As God has said:

I will dwell in them 

And walk among them. I will be their God,

And they shall be my people.

2 Corinthians 6:16

In like manner also,

that the woman adorn themselves in modest apparel,

with propriety and moderation,

not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing,

but, which is proper for women professing godliness,

with good works.

1 Timothy 2:9-10

So it says not to put your hair in braids, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't. Braids were the really fancy hairdo's back then. The message that Paul wanted to bring to our attention from these two verses was that we shouldn't use our money to look rich or to look higher than anyone else. He wants to tell us to be humble in the way we dress. 

The Bible doesn't have specific teachings about the type of clothes we should wear because fashions have come and left. But I believe that the clothes we should wear as Christians should not draw eyes to ourselves. Should not cause people to stare at our bodies, but should cause people to stare at our love for Christ and our spiritual beings. Our clothes should bring attention unto our souls where the presence of God dwells. 

How do we wear clothes that cause that?

Well our clothes should reflect our personality and not our bodies. God has given us our bodies so that we could respect them and use them to bring glory to His name. The clothes should not draw attention to our bodies but cause the looker to look at the personality. The clothes don't have to be so unattracting but not too attracting that all the person looks at is your clothes and body. 

I hope this answered your question dear friend. I tried my best. :)

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Bragging is Alright With God, Just Do it the Right Way

I was in church today and we sang a song during the Breaking of Bread meeting in the morning. It was "How Deep the Father's Love For Us". And as we were singing, the lyrics just touched me and made me think.

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that left Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Verse 5 stood out the most to me. I had come across a verse that mentioned that as well as I was looking through my Bible.

So, as the Scripture says,

"If people want to brag,

they should brag only about the Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:31

The part of Scripture that was mentioned there came from Jeremiah 9:24, which states

But if people want to brag,

let them brag that they understand and know me.

Let them brag that I am the LORD, 

and that I am kind and fair,

and that I do things that are right on earth.

This kind of bragging pleases me," says the LORD.

Sometimes we find that we want to brag about what we've done to show others how good of a person we are. We always want to brag about earthly things. Things we've accomplished and things we're involved with. But have we ever taken a moment and tell others about how great our God is? Just like how easy it is to brag about ourselves, we need to be able to brag about the LORD that way. It is quite hard since many people reject the LORD. But what is keeping us from bragging about how awesome our creator is? And when we brag about ourselves, do we then take a moment and thank our God for giving us that opportunity or talent in front of everyone? Our God has done more than is comprehendible for us. We've failed him numerous times and dishonoured him. We cursed him and yet he accepted us and forgave us. So why can't we brag about the God who loves us so very extremely much that he rejected his own perfect son just for us to have a way to be with Him? 

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Man

Man

We are made out of the dust,

and we will return to dust.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust

of the ground, 

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;

and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread 

Till you return to the ground,

For out of it you were taken;

For dust you are, 

And to dust you shall return. (Genesis 3:19)

We are made in the image of  God.

And as we have borne the image of the man of dust,

we shall also bear the image

of the heavenly Man. (1Corinthians 15:49)

Whoever sheds mans blood, 

By man his blood shall be shed;

For in the image of God He made man. (Genesis 9:6)

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. (Genesis 1:26)

So God created man in his own image, 

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

God knew them before he made the world, 
and he chose them to be like his Son
so that Jesus would
be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:29)

We are sinners.

For there is not a just man on earth who does not sin. (Ecclesiastes 7:20)

Truly,
this only I have found:
That God made man upright,
But they have sought out many schemes. (Ecclesiastes 7:29)

In the eyes of the Lord we cannot function independently.
Nevertheless, neither is man
independent of woman,
nor woman independent of man,
in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 11:11)

We do not deserve Him.
What is man,
that You should exalt him,
That You should set Your heart on him (Job 7:17)

We have a spirit and an understanding.
But there is a spirit in man,
And the breath of life of the Almighty
gives him understanding. (Job 32:8)

We betray
But Jesus said to him,
Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man
with a kiss? (Luke 22:48)
And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined,
but woe to that man by whom He is 
betrayed. (Luke 22:22)

Now I've talked about how "Man" is explained in the Bible, but there is also another Man that is spoken of in the Bible.


THE SON OF MAN
For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. (Matthew 18:11)

THE SECOND MAN
The first man was of the earth,
made of dust;
the second Man is the Lord from heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:47)

HEAVENLY MAN
As was the man of dust,
so also are those who are made of dust;
and as is the heavenly Man,
so also are those who are heavenly. (1 Corinthians 15:48)

THE MAN OF WAR
The Lord is a man of war;
The Lord is His name. (Exodus 15:3)


We betray the Son of Man,
we sin against the heavenly Man,
we curse the Alpha and Omega,
the Lamb of God,
the Son of God. 
And he still loves us,
forgives us,
cares and tends to us.
He treats us as if we are sheep and He is our shepherd.

I'm forgiven, 
because you were forsaken.
I'm accepted,
You were condemned.
I'm alive and well, 
Your spirit lives within me,
because You died and rose again.
Amazing love,
how can it be?
That You, my king would die for me?
Amazing love,
I know it's true.
It's my joy to honour You,
in all I do I honour You.


So what are YOU going to do for the God who forgot all you did to Him, who loved you when you didn't think it was impossible for anyone to love you,
who forgave you for the many times you sinned against Him?

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Blogging Prompt.

It's been such a long time since I posted, and I have not been very consistent. It's always the summer. My family is like the family that always travels each summer, we just love traveling!

So Faithful Blogger asked a question as a blogging prompt. It asked: If you had to recommend only one book of the Bible for a person to read, which book would you recommend?


Now I have two different answers for that because it depends on if the person is Christian or not. 

If the person I'm recommending the book to is a Cristian, then I would definitely recommend Ephesians. I picked Ephesians because it talks about how we should live our lives as Christians which I think is extremely important. I really love that book for that reason. One of my favourite verses in Ephesians is: (NCV) I am in prison because I belong to the Lord. Therefore I urge you who have been chosen by God to live up to the life to which God called you. Always be humble, gentle, and patient, accepting each other in love.  Ephesians 4:1-2

This is the American Standard version, it's a bit different and I thought I'd add in verse 3 as well. 

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians talks about how we should live in the light and it mentions the unity of the body.
The unity of the body is defined in Ephesians 4: 3-6.

You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, 

so make every effort to continue together in this way.

There is one body and one Spirit,

and God called you to have one hope.

There is one Lord, 

one faith,

and one baptism. 

There is one God and Father of everything.

He rules everything and is everywhere and is in everything.

It also speaks of the body in Ephesians 4:16

The whole body depends on Christ,

and all parts of the body

are joined and held together. 

Each part does its own work to make the whole body

grow and be strong with love.

If I were to recommend a book to the unsaved, I would recommend Romans.

Romans is a really good book for the unsaved because it talks about what Christ has done for us and how we are all guilty of sin. It takes the unsaved step by step to being saved. It shows how you can receive eternal life and how to be saved. It helps the reader understand why God sent his son to die for us. It's like a miniature manual for the unsaved.

Romans is divided into 5 different parts:

1. All Men are Guilty Before God (1:18-3:20).
2. God Justifies the Sinner who Believes (3:21-5:21).
3. The Believing Sinner Can Have Victory Over Sin (6:1-8:39).
4. What About the Jew (the past, present and future of Israel)? (9:1-11:36)
5. Principles of Christian Living (12:1-15:33)

http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/newtesta/ntesta5.htm

Parts 1-3, and 5 would be of so much guidance to the unsaved. 

In conclusion, I would recommend Ephesians to the saved and Romans to the unsaved.

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Free From Bondage

I had a post idea in mind after I had my exams but I didn't have enough time to post it because my family had a conference to go to and I had just came back yesterday so I think today would be a good time to post a new post.

Well while I was preparing for my exams, I felt trapped and not free. I felt like I couldn't escape the burdens of studying and fear. There was nothing that made me doubt that I would have to write the exam at some point. When I had finished writing my first exam I felt like one piece of the bondage had fallen off. And the weight and stress started to dissipate. I felt like I can actually start breathing. I started breathing the fresh air again and seeing the colours of everyday as the number of exams I had to write started to shrink to 1. When I was finally done with my exams I felt overjoyed and strong. I felt free.
This reminded me about how we are captives and are bound by sin. We try to doubt that there is something wrong in our lives that we need to get rid of. This was just like how I tried to find a way to doubt that there were actually going to be exams. We try to make the horrible go away and by doing that, we reject any help. God is trying to help us, but by accepting his help, we have to acknowledge that there actually is something wrong. Most people do not like to do that, that's why so many people reject the fact that there really is a God.
When I was studying for my exams, I felt like I really needed help and that I couldn't make it through without my mom beside me. Just like how we can't overcome sin by ourselves. We need God to help us every step of the way. Once we overcome sin with the help of God, we feel free and not captivated anymore. We feel peace, joy, happiness, strength, and a tremendous amount of love for the One who helped us get there. We can overcome sin by accepting the Lord and repenting, meaning acknowledging that you're a sinner and that you need help from God. You need to believe that Jesus died for you so that you will not perish, so that you can be saved by just accepting what God has done for you and accepting the free gift that he has held out in his hands for you. You don't need to meet a certain standard in order to be saved. Just like I wasn't prepared before I started studying to do my exam, you don't have to know every inch of the Bible or be from a certain lineage. We are ALL lost sheep before we are found. We all look the same and think the same. It doesn't matter who you were before, it's who God makes you to be after that really matters.

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Know yourself

You have to know yourself before you can decide what your heart longs for.

Watch this really good video by Sanctus Real called "Dear Heart"

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Fifteen Years

In just four days, i’ll be turning 15. 

That means that i’m a whole fifteen years into my life. 

As I look back at the many things that have happened in those 15 years 

that have gotten me to this point,

I can’t help but thank the almighty and loving God for helping me 

through the winding roads of life

and the slippery slopes of the mountain of faith.

The challenges,

the heart-breakings,

the mistakes,

the lies,

the disobeying,

the anger,

the peace,

the overwhelming joy, 

the love,

the grace,

the kindness,

and many more of these come in the package of life. 

I have experienced all of these in my past 15 years.

I can say that I have experienced them in a year.

But the one thing that many haven’t experienced, 

and that I am so grateful to experience,

is the belonging to the Lord, 

I am his child,

his loved one,

his once-lost sheep.

He had found me 10 years ago,

and had mended my lost heart and made me new.

I was nothing, but he gave me a title,

I am His and forever His I will be.

He takes my wounds and heals them with the touch of his words.

He tells me that I am not alone when I feel like no one cares.

He gives me peace in my times of anger and reminds me that evil is the result of anger.

And that all evil is the work of Satan.

He tells me that there’s is a larger plan at work when I think things are just falling apart.

He is my joy,

he is my life,

he is my peacemaker

he is LOVE,

he gives me rest when i’m restless,

he is my calmer,

he gives me hope,

he gives me a purpose and reason

he is my father,

he is my GOD.

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