peace given in the worst of times

Tomorrow, I'll be going to a funeral, for the death of the daughter of my piano teacher. She's the most precious thing, such a little princess. Only 6 months old. When I heard this news, I just balled. My piano teacher is the sweetest woman and she always has such peace and patience especially when I don't do my piano homework. But this was the last thing I would ever think could happen. I thought, "she doesn't deserve this", but we all deserve death but God gave us life because of his great mercy. And what God decided to do with this precious life after he gave her life, was to call her back home. Maybe he missed her too much. ;) ahaha but today, I went to the visitation at the funeral home and I saw her lying in her little casket and she looked like a doll, I couldn't help myself I started crying. I needed peace in my heart even though I wasn't the parent of this little soul. I couldn't look into my teacher's eyes or her husband's, I didn't want to cry even more in front of them. That was probably the last thing they wanted. But what took me by surprise was how calm they were. There seemed to be peace within their hearts. That's the amazing thing about our Lord. He offers peace when you most need it, when it seems nearly impossible to have. And the only thing my piano teacher said to me before I balled again was, "I wish you could've seen her more often." I had never got to see her once, and my family had. So she had promised me in the second week of January that she was going to bring her in for one of the lessons. But the day never came, and it never will. The thought just made me cry even more, I really needed strength. I felt silly because I felt like I was struggling more with keeping myself together and strong than they were. Then one of those awesome moments where God puts that random verse in your mind happened. (ps. I wanted to put that verse on their card, but it was too late)

Colossians 1:11

God will strengthen you with his own

great power so that you will 

not give up when troubles come,

but you will be patient.

My teacher and her husband sure had that verse down because they were very patient and seemed like they had strength provided by God so that they could keep strong. And I think I need some of what they have because I am just breaking down. The thing I love though, is how God designed us. He designed us with feelings for one another, we may not be close to a person, but when they're hurting, we hurt too. We don't have to be identical twins to feel each other. We know how depressing death is and how it could affect one's life. We know that many people's heart were dear to the dead's. Sometimes though, we might need help ourselves, and I'm not just talking about girls (my brother couldn't hold himself either and he's a strong person, we had to leave because he couldn't bear to see her lying there). We sometimes look for things to help us through our sadness like food or friends or music. But there isn't always assurance that it will keep you strong. One thing is sure though. That is the Bible. We could relate to it one way or another no matter what our problems are. In this situation, my teacher, her family and her husband and his family, can relate to David. His son was very ill and was going to die, so he grieved and prayed until the day came when his son was called home. Then David did something remarkable, he got up, cleaned himself and worshiped the Lord then ate for he fasted while the child was alive. Everyone was wondering why he wasn't grieving because of his son's death. He said that what was done is done, he can't do anything about it. But while his son was alive, there was still hope that he could become well. He also said that he will see him one day and will be reunited with him. Just like how all those dear to this precious girl will be reunited with her again one day. So all we could do now is clean ourselves and look towards that day when we shall see her again. My teacher and her family will be in my prayers and thoughts, and I am also motivated to work harder on my piano so I don't give her a hard time with it anymore. She has really encouraged me in the 5 years she's been working with me and she has set great goals for me and so far we have accomplished them and I want to continue to accomplish them for I don't want to let her down. This little girl will always be in my heart and she'll always remind me to stay strong and patient when trials come. I just pray for their peace to continue through the funeral ceremony. 

This post I think really gets the idea about strength in devastating times.

(click on the sentence above to get to it)

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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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One Moment

Some people say that God is always just, merciful, loving, kind, and generous, but

There was one moment when God wasn't just, when God wasn't merciful, when he wasn't loving,

when he didn't show kindness and turned his face away, when he wasn't generous.

That moment was when he sent his son to die 

for the sins of man and suffer on the cross.

God did not show mercy to Jesus, 

he was not just, 

he wasn't loving and turned his face away,

he was not generous and kind to Jesus. 

When Jesus bore our sins upon himself, 

God could not bear to look upon his son.

He did this so that WE may be forgiven,

So that WE could live and praise him forever and be with him in eternity,

so that WE could have a second chance

so WE could walk with him like we once did.

He loved us SO MUCH that he allowed this to happen:

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Friends

To me, I don't really care about popularity or if my friends aren't popular. I was thinking lately that the reason why I hang around my friends is because of the saying, "You are who you hang around" and I realized that every single person that I hang around has a personality or characteristic that I would like in myself. My best friend is very humble and she never says anything negative about anyone. She does not boast about anything, even if she is proud of what she had accomplished and she doesn't ask for favours from anyone. She agrees with everyone because she doesn't like to argue. I just find her personality overwhelming and I really need some of that myself. She may not realize this, but she is such an amazing example for me. I admit, I speak my mind often and if I don't agree with something someone says, I say my opinion up front and most of the time it results in arguments. Perhaps the reason why I want to be a lawyer is because I like to argue, but I also want to be humble and a peacemaker like my friend. I think that if I were to be friends with my best friend forever, I could end up to be the person I have always dreamed to be and who God wants me to be. Another good thing about hanging around the people that I do is that they are all Christians and encourage me in my daily walk of faith and we even discuss questions about who God wants us to be and what God wants us to do. They also come to me for answers and comfort when they're being troubled. Did you know that YOU have a HUGE impact on the people you hang around? Yeah, I know, scary stuff. So we must also be careful about how we act, because if we do not act the way God wants us to act or if we have made many wrong choices, your friends will soon make the same choices and do the wrong things that you have done. Therefore, the people on whom you rely on to create you, are actually not becoming the role models you have relied on before. When you make them something you did not want to be, you will be stuck in the position that you did not want to be in, unless you change yourself and be the huge impact on your friends. It is just this big circle. You must try to keep it consistent and not change the way it had been functioning before. (I mean when it functions the way God wants it to function).
What type of people do you hang around? Do they affect who you are, and how you act? How much impact do you have on your friends?

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Beyond Our Galaxy (God of Wonders)

"God of wonders beyond our galaxy...
The universe declares your majesty..."

I was singing this song in a conference that I was just at and those two verses just struck me. God of wonders beyond our galaxy. He is BEYOND our galaxy, a God that is so far from us, wants to be so close to us and even wants us! Our sin makes us unbearable to God, but he didn't want us to be separated, he wanted to have an intimate relationship with us! Our own creator wants to know us and be in a relationship with us. My creator wants a relationship with me! I just want to rejoice at that news. Sometimes, as a girl, I want to feel loved by someone, I want to be loveable, but I am already deeply loved by my own creator, the creator of the world, universe, galaxy, and all wonders in it! A God beyond our galaxy wants me, even if no one in the world wants me, he would. And he wants you too. Even if you don't feel deserving, even if you think that you're not good enough even if you don't believe in him, he wanted you and loved you before you came on the earth, he died for you before you lived, he was working on trying to get you before your parents knew you were going be alive. Sometimes we are the ones trying to get the other person, whether male or female, we like a person and try to get them to like us back. God is like that, he doesn't like you, he loves you, he's trying to get you're attention and he's trying to get you to understand that he wants to have a relationship with you. He will persist in trying until he gets you. My relationship with the God of the universe is the best thing I had ever experienced and I badly want you to experience it too, but I do not want to pressure you in doing so, I want you to choose this relationship yourself. God bless, and hopefully I will get to see you in Heaven one day.

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Always Been Loved

He loves you ALWAYS, even before you took your place in this world.

I cannot even comprehend that He knew me even before I took my place in this world, to even comprehend that He LOVED me before I was born! God's love for us is way too great for us understand. I could say that I will love my child that I might give birth to in the future, but I am way too young to be thinking about that now and I don't even have that certainty of knowing that I will conceive. What if God's plan for me is to adopt or not have kids at all? But God, he KNOWS you before your parents get to know you, before he makes you. Isn't that awesome and weird at the same time? Before he made you, he loved you and knew you? Wow, that is some amazing God. I just get butterflies TRYING to think about it, I can't even think about it, I have to try! That's how great God's power is! We can't even begin to think about it, we can't even try to think about it. 

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Kindness that lasts a Lifetime

Just this past weekend, I was at a teen winter camp retreat in the States. It is called camp Li-Lo-Li and I was looking through my Bible during chapel time and I found this one verse in Psalm that caught my eye and brought peace to my heart.

Sing praises to the Lord, you who belong to him;
praise his holy name.
His anger lasts only a moment,
but his kindness lasts for a lifetime.
Crying may last for a night, 
but joy comes in the morning. 
Psalms 30:4-5


Right away, I fell in love with this verse. How it expresses that God's Kindness lasts a LIFETIME. Isn't that just amazing? Sometimes, when you read the Bible, it talks about God's anger, but even in anger, he expresses grace towards us. That grace lasts longer than His anger. The last section of this verse, "Crying may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning" reminds me of a song I mentioned in an earlier post called "Before the Morning" by Josh Wilson. It says in the chorus, "The pain that you've been feeling, is just the dark before the morning." You may find yourself asking God "Why? Why did you let that happen?" But know that whatever happens, God is using that to work out your relationship with him. And even the pain, sorrow, and guilt that you have come across, instead of being those awful things that they are, can be used to bring glory to his name and all the wrongs that you have committed will be forgotten. Isn't that just amazing to know that he will forget the terrible things that you have done that bring guilt upon you? This doesn't mean that it's okay to commit them though.

The almighty, powerful God, that created the world from the smallest insect, to the largest mammal. The God who created you and I. His anger ONLY lasts a moment, whereas His kindness lasts a LIFETIME.
It still marvels me! His kindness outweighs his anger. Our God is quick to forgive and slow to get angry, and that's how we should live as well. I know for a fact that I’m the opposite. I'm struggling to forgive as much as I get angry, let alone forgive! I, as a sinner, am great at holding grudges and bringing it up every time I see the person that I'm holding the grudge against. It's a terrible "Habit" that we as sinners cannot get rid of easily. I called it a habit because truthfully it is something we can't control. We all struggle to forgive and do what is easiest, get angry.

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I Find You When I Fall Apart

I was listening to a song called "Fall Apart" by Josh Wilson, my favourite christian singer/song writer, and it was saying in the song

 "Why in the world did I think I could only get to know you when my life was good? When everything just falls in place, the easiest thing is to give you praise. Now it all seems upside down. Cause my whole world is caving in, but I feel you now, more than I did then, I cannot come to the end of me, and somehow still have all I need. God, I want to know you more, maybe this is how it starts, I find you when I fall apart."

I just love the lyrics to this song because they're absolutely true words. I find myself praising the Lord more when I feel blessed and in my time of trouble, I don't praise Him, instead, I call out to Him. I find that I get to know more about how my Lord works, and I find Him better when my life is "falling apart" or when I don't understand why these little problems and troubles keep popping up in my life.

As it also says in his other song, "Before the morning", "The pain that you've been feeling is just the hurt before the healing, just the dark before the morning." The problems that your faced with in your life, they will turn into something better than that, they will help you gain wisdom, confidence, a stronger character, peace, happiness, and many more marvellous things. When you think that your life's about to end, think again, it is just the beginning to greater things.

Here's the song if you want to hear it.

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Loving others (Behind the Scenes)

I had just started my first year of high school a couple of months ago with excitement and anxiousness.
Not knowing what I was going to face, whether God was going to use me or use others to help me grow strong in character, what adventures he might bring upon me and what troubles and stresses I might go through. All these thoughts were running through my head as I took my first step into the building with my friends.

It looked normal, but what was behind the scenes at my high school? What were the students like?

High School is a major leap from Elementary school. More work, bigger facilities, more students, more studying, gym everyday (I'm not much of an athlete, I just like Thai kickboxing and Brazilian Jujitsu), more rotary, and harder teachers.

But what was so good about high school was that you can find more people who you enjoy to be around, whereas in elementary school, you were practically forced to be friends with the people in your grade since Kindergarten until grade 8 graduation. This was an advantage for me. I figured, the more people who would listen to me, the more I can share God's love, and in a Christian school! So they've already had some background knowledge from chapel.

I would like to share with you a heart changing experience that I've had in my first semester of high school.

My homeroom is science which I have with one of my close friends, I didn't really get to know much people then because we were just settling in and getting to know our teacher, but one person caught my eye right away, and I'm pretty sure he caught everyone's eyes too. You can't miss him. He was a boy about 6"5 and here I am 4"11 or maybe 5"0. About double my height. WOW. I know. All my life I've dreamed of being tall, but I never thought about being that tall. When you think about Goliath, he sounds pretty tall, but you don't actually see his height, you just get a written description. Now, I think that Goliath was massive because the boy is only 6"5 and Goliath was like 9 feet!

See, this boy, I got to know him as the days went by, he is actually the sweetest boy I have ever come across, but what I didn't know about him was all behind those eyes of his.

I was talking to him one day in one of the classes we had together and another girl as well and we were talking about our elementary school years, the girl was telling me about how she wasn't treated properly because she was born in U.S.A.! Isn't that crazy? People will try to find any reason to bring you down and to raise themselves up. The boy on the other hand wasn't treated well either because of how tall he was! That tore my heart away, all the stories I have heard, it was unbelievable! I started to pray for them, for them to find someone whom they can trust and someone who will treat them as a friend, a true friend. I also gave them my link to my blog.

Later I asked the boy if he looked at my blog, he told me that he didn't have time but he always had that piece of paper with him that had the link on it. That brightened up my spirit. It told me that I was doing the right thing.

That night I went on my blog and found that i had a new follower. I took a look at my comments and found one by a person named Tall but small. I laughed, surely this was the boy. I was so happy that he commented. I clicked on his name and on his profile it showed that he had a blog. I decide to read it and follow it because he didn't have anyone following it. What I read in the next 10 minutes broke my heart. It showed me what I was missing. People in the world look like they're having a great time and enjoying their lives, but once you look behind the scenes, its a whole other world that they're living in. But at the end of each post, he wrote about how he could always count on God to help him get through his pain and how He'll always be there for him. This showed me that I had really impacted someone. After he took a look at my blog it inspired him to make one of his own and I think that through this process he was strengthening his faith in God. Before it seemed as if he had given up on God but now he's a whole new person. I feel like God had used this boy in my life to show me that there are many others in the world who need this type of love and understanding, and a friend. He had also recently added a post called  Friends, it was about me and it showed me how much I impacted his life and how much he impacted mine.
If you want to visit his blog, and know more about him, here's the link:
http://goodformegoodforu.blogspot.com/

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He Has Put His Angels In Charge Of You To Watch Over You

He has put his angels in charge of you to watch over you wherever you go.
They will catch you in their hands so that you will not hit your foot on a rock.
You will walk on lions and cobras; you will step on strong lions and snakes.
The Lord says, "Whoever loves me, I will save. I will protect those who know me.
They will call to me, and i will answer them. I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue them and honor them.
I will give them a long, full life, and they will see how I can save."
Psalm 91:11-16

Those who go to God Most High for safety will be protected by the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, "You are my place of safety and protection. You are my God and I trust you."
God will save you from hidden traps and from deadly diseases.
He will cover you with feathers, and under his wings you can hide. His truth will be your shield and protection.
You will not fear any danger by night or and arrow during the day.
Psalm 91:1-5

This chapter of Psalm is telling you that you have your very own special bodyguard. Our Lord Jesus. He will always watch over you day and night, he will even send his angels to protect you if you still feel afraid. This passage reaally comforts me. It always reminds me that I'm not alone even in the dark when I'm walking down the streets and I'm not sure of where I'm going. It also reminds me of a song called "Never Let Go". It says
"Even though I walk through the valley
Of the shadows of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I'm caught in the middle
Of the stoms of this life
I won't turn back I know you are near"

This song reminds me of God's powerful love and how it is helping me persevere through the tough times when I think I'm just about to quit trying. It reminds me of how blessed I am. Lately I've been saying "why me" and not why me as in a terrible way but "Why me" as in why did You the Almighty God choose to bless me so much? I just thank him so much for that. Just this past week, all the things I would have dreamed of happening at least before I die in my life has happened. God truly is amazing and I praise him and thank him for that. This year (2011) make a list of all the blessings that God has given you and don't be surprised when the next day you remember another one, just keep adding to the list and then when New Year arrives take a look at it and you would be astonished by the number of blessings that are on that list. Happy Thanksgiving!

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The Power of Prayer

Set time aside to pray each day, and really pray from your heart. Talk to the Lord about your problems and concerns; what makes you happy, and what troubles you.


God will answer even your smallest request and will give you happiness even if your plan does not line with his. Whatever decision God makes it will be the best for you. 


If you do not understand his plan for your life and are confused by what he's putting you through, he will be pleased if you pray to him and ask him to give you wisdom in order to understand. Prayer is what comes from the heart, it is not a routine that you say the same thing at a certain time, God wants different prayers each time, there will always be something new to pray about each day.

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WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?)

A good tree does not produce bad fruit, nor does a bad tree produce good fruit. Each tree is known by its own fruit. People don't gather figs from thornbushes, and they don't get grapes from bushes. Good people bring good things out of the good they stored in their hearts. But evil people bring evil things out of the evil they stored in their hearts. People speak the things that are in their hearts.
Luke 6:43-45

We are like those trees, there are bad people and there are good people. The Christians in the world should produce good fruit for all to collect. We, as Christians should be like the good tree and only do things that are good, we want to tell and show everyone who see us that we are followers of Christ without telling them so. They should be able to walk by and identify that we are born again Christians. Sometimes though we tend to do the wrong things and end up in the wrong crowd that causes us to do the things that God would not like us to do. It all depends on what we are living around and what type of world is surrounding us. The movies we watch for instance, affect the way we think. If our friends use alot of inappropriate language then we might start using the same language as them which will eventually lead us away and farther from God. What we need to do in order to stop us from making the wrong decisions is use the famous saying WWJD. What Would Jesus Do? That way we would know for sure whether or not we are making the right choices. Praying to the God would also help in making the right decision. In conclusion, just imagine Jesus doing what you think you should do and if the picture doesn't fit then know it's the wrong thing to do.

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