Christians around the world are celebrating once again the birth of Jesus Christ. No one for sure knows the real date of His birth. But we celebrate to thank Him for coming to the world and making a great sacrifice for our salvation. This is not only the time to prepare and eat a lot of food, drink and be merry for a whole year's blessing. Most of all, let's remember the very essence of this season - the birth of Jesus Christ. Let no one forget to thank Him for His love, mercy and grace.
Let each of us share this season to those who can't feel it. We may not know their reasons, but we can bring them to God who can search their hearts.
Merry Christmas and God bless, everyone!
Friday, December 25, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Tested and Purified Like Gold
[1] There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
[20] Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
[21] And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
--- Job 1:1, 20-21
We all go through trials - some are easy, some would tear our characters and turn our lives 180 degrees, and make us ask God why. The great men of God were no exemption.
Job was a perfect man, who loves the Lord with all his heart and his life - a faithful man. But tragedies truck his life. All of a sudden, he lost his children, his servants, his animals, his fields. He was kept alive, but his body was covered with boils, from his head to his toes. But inspite of what happened, inspite of losing everything, Job worshipped the Lord!
In the first part of chapter one, God was very proud of Job, that He mentioned him to satan. And it was only when God allowed satan to touch the life of Job that satan was able to test Job. That means when we start to struggle, that is when God has been boasting about us. That also means satan could not hurt the children of God, unless God permits.
But why would God allow his children to suffer? To test and to purify us. Remember a gold needs to go through fire to remove the unwanted materials and to get the pure gold. Only then will we see it shine. And once it's gold, it will always be gold.
[20] Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
[21] And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
--- Job 1:1, 20-21
We all go through trials - some are easy, some would tear our characters and turn our lives 180 degrees, and make us ask God why. The great men of God were no exemption.
Job was a perfect man, who loves the Lord with all his heart and his life - a faithful man. But tragedies truck his life. All of a sudden, he lost his children, his servants, his animals, his fields. He was kept alive, but his body was covered with boils, from his head to his toes. But inspite of what happened, inspite of losing everything, Job worshipped the Lord!
In the first part of chapter one, God was very proud of Job, that He mentioned him to satan. And it was only when God allowed satan to touch the life of Job that satan was able to test Job. That means when we start to struggle, that is when God has been boasting about us. That also means satan could not hurt the children of God, unless God permits.
But why would God allow his children to suffer? To test and to purify us. Remember a gold needs to go through fire to remove the unwanted materials and to get the pure gold. Only then will we see it shine. And once it's gold, it will always be gold.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
His Love Sweet Love
If God is good, then why does He allow people to suffer from diseases? Why does He let some little children have cancer? Why does He allow good people to die? Why do we get sick?
My answer may not be the same as God's, since I don't know His thoughts. What I do know is that the joy of the Lord is our strength. He is the SOURCE of everything - including our strength. He guards us everyday and makes our heart beat 24 hours a day. He makes our heart pump blood for the body even while we sleep. He makes us healthy so we can do what we are tasked to do. He is keeping us so we can achieve things for His glory.
But achieving our dreams may not always be to our advantage. It is when we achieve a lot of things that our egos grow - we become proud. We start sharing the glory with God. No man should give glory to himself. So God has to remind us that it is through Him that we were able to do things.
It is through Him that we passed our exams. It is with His blessings that we got a job. It is with His help that we went through the most difficult times of our lives - and not because of ourselves - our will, our desire, our intelligence, our own strength.
So He has to take away the things in our lives so we can see Him - only Him. Because when we have nothing, we still have God. No one, no man, nothing can take Him away from us, unless we ourselves walk away from Him. But even if we did, He is always there, waiting for us to come back.
How sweet the love of the Lord is!
My answer may not be the same as God's, since I don't know His thoughts. What I do know is that the joy of the Lord is our strength. He is the SOURCE of everything - including our strength. He guards us everyday and makes our heart beat 24 hours a day. He makes our heart pump blood for the body even while we sleep. He makes us healthy so we can do what we are tasked to do. He is keeping us so we can achieve things for His glory.
But achieving our dreams may not always be to our advantage. It is when we achieve a lot of things that our egos grow - we become proud. We start sharing the glory with God. No man should give glory to himself. So God has to remind us that it is through Him that we were able to do things.
It is through Him that we passed our exams. It is with His blessings that we got a job. It is with His help that we went through the most difficult times of our lives - and not because of ourselves - our will, our desire, our intelligence, our own strength.
So He has to take away the things in our lives so we can see Him - only Him. Because when we have nothing, we still have God. No one, no man, nothing can take Him away from us, unless we ourselves walk away from Him. But even if we did, He is always there, waiting for us to come back.
How sweet the love of the Lord is!
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