The Fountain of Joy

Someone once said, "Joy is not the absence of suffering. It is the presence of God."

Nehemiah 8:10 says, "Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is our strength."

Can we be merry no matter what? Can we truly rejoice always? It is easy to praise God and remember God when everything sails on smoothly, but what about bad times?

Deeply amazed by how David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with ALL his might (2 Samuel 6). He danced for a reason, for he is joyful! Today, can we express the same delight in God which made David dance?

We ought to be merry. A solemn face brings no good, it brings our day down. A face of agony is not God glorifying, it repels others to believe there is joy in knowing Jesus, but knowing Jesus suffers.

If God is the fountain of joy, there should be outward eruption of joy. The joy of the Lord should be contagious and infectious. It should affect the person next to us.

Today, in everything that we do, lets be reminded that we are not doing it just for the sake of doing or meeting datelines, but we do it for the glory of God and the Joy found in Christ Jesus is our ultimate source of strength.

Yes, we can do everything through Christ Jesus, but without Joy, how far can we go?

Remembering God, God is happy even in accomplishing all that he pleases. Psalm 135:6 says, ” Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.” God gets all things done, whatever he wants or desires. He is happy. That is the pleasure of God. Today, if we do everything and get everything done knowing Jesus is our Rock of Salvation, our Hope to Eternity, we gotta be happy. We have a reason to smile.

We gotta sing in the sunshine. We gotta sing even when clouds pour out rain. We gotta dance in the storms. We gotta praise God no matter what. We gotta be merry. Life as a Christian should be a perpetual jubilee, a prelude to the festivals of eternity. We gotta celebrate Jesus everyday, for He lives not just on Easter or Christmas.

Joy. In trials and agony, we still can have it for Jesus tells us how it is done.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2.

The joy set before us shall keep us going.

We can start practicing by simply SMILE as we think of Jesus, as you read this.

I want more Joy. Give me more Joy Jesus!

Stir it through God's Glory

Sometimes, we don't need to say much. Even if we get fired up, people might still not heed what we trying to convey. Christ is the solution.

How to catch the fire? How to stir one another to catch a deeper conviction? How to motivate one another? How can we turn the lukewarm or the pathetic into passionate people for Christ? I am not there yet but I am learning.

The holy discontent that is oozing out and the feel of wanting to burst is unbearable. But God, how? Why? When?

I was blessed to meet a missionary team from Sydney today and had a really good chat, sharing and hearing from one another over the dinner. They are pumped up. They are lunatic for God. But this brother shared something similar of what I am experiencing right now - How do I motivate my team members if they happen to slack and lose concentration? Should I just bear with them and show grace as how I am told by my leader? Should I just stand and watch, trusting God that he gonna show up?

Interesting. As I read this passage after I came back home, it spoke straight into my heart. Bingo! New perspective! New dimension!

Just display God's glory to them. Just display God's love to them. Just display God's the mighty-to-save power. At the same time, show compassion and understanding towards the challenges or struggles that they might be facing. Just show them who God is, why God is everything, why Christ should be the center. But at times, when they really need a push or momentum, give them a kick. Challenge them, stir them, but don't bombard or overheat them. It's like stepping on the accelerator to the full without warming up. The engine will get burnt!

I learn that everyone might not be on the same page. Rather, it's difficult to get everyone to not just turn to but stay and progress from the same page to the next. This is life. Things happen.

Understanding and being able to care for them is just like taking the right medicine when facing different kind of illness or sickness.

Sometimes, we preach too much. The best way is to walk the talk. People will see a living preacher who practises what he or she says, rather than just mere talks, advices, encouragements etc and they will tend to follow or imitate. That's how some get encouraged, motivated and stirred.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."

The ultimate and immaculate role person to follow is none other than Christ, but still, we can set ourselves as examples for others to follow with Christ the ultimate monitor.

So God, teach me, mould me and may I walk like one, displaying your glory and majesty.

The Gift of Grace

Faith, is the gift of grace. It's is the eye from God, to see God as Father, to know Him as a covenant God, to experience His love planted in us. It's is the grace of union. It casts our anchor upwards to where we trust. It tells us what our senses do not, but not the contrary of what they see, is just above.

A childlike faith, faith that can move mountain, faith that holds on no matter what. To know this Faith, one has to know the Giver of Faith - God.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) or the New Living Translation says:

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."

Faith is accompanied by confidence. The assurance.

It is believing and certain that the sun will rise in the morning despite the whacking thunderstorm in the night. It's believing that the raging sea waters will calm when the wind stops.

Someone once said, faith is not believing that God can, it is knowing that He will. It is not knowing what the future holds, but knowing who holds the future. God it is.

Unwavering faith in God gives us the strength to believe that God will bring it to past, that He will deliver, that He will fulfill his promises, that He is coming soon.

So, never let our faith slumber or sleep. For when it sleeps, our heart is fount of every loathsome desire, accumulating lusts, growing the deadly fruit and walking away from God. We are losing life.

So awake my Faith, put forth your strength until all heaven fills my soul, till I see You.

The Constant Grace

God enables us to make it, no matter what. God's unfailing grace is ever ready to pick us up. Never inadequate, never ever depleted. It won't run out. No expiry date, will not rotten. It can carry us to as far as we believe in God.

It is not depending on our own adequacy, but God's sufficiency. Is the old Paul adequate? Yet God chose him. Therefore Paul can really say it out loud, applicable to all of us that,

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9

In our weakness we see God's overwhelming grace that sustains us.

God's grace saves us, directs us, guides us, hears our cry and carries our burdens and sorrows, provides all our needs, keeps us going, and never leaves us alone.

Therefore, can man give us grace like God?

Knowing Christ can fill our inadequacy is the greatest comfort and encouragement. For that, we do not need to rely on ourselves, knowing that no matter how hard we try, if we rely on our own might and strength, we can fail. But think in the way that Christ is equal to any task that we face. Nothing is too big, or too small for His grace to handle.

So convince me, that I cannot be my own God, or make myself happy, nor my own Christ to restore my joy, nor my own Spirit to teach, guide, rule me.

Convince me, that if I venture forth alone I will stumble and fall, but on Your arms I am firm as the eternal hills.

So, be my strength to stand, my light to see, my feet to run, my shield to protect, my sword to repel, my sun to warm.

All I need is your constant grace. ♥

Lesson derived from Mortar

5/12

We must have unity, not at all costs, but at all risks.

"Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Ecclesiastes 4:12

As a QS student, I have the opportunity to learn the different types of materials used in construction. I am often amazed by the chemical reactions between different elements, the study of matter, motion, energy, strength ... and how A + B produces an end product that is way stronger or durable than A alone or B alone. From that, many principles that are applicable to life and even to Christianity can be derived.

Bricks have smoother surface but not stone. Constructing a stone wall takes more effort than putting a brick wall together. Stones rarely have flat sides, often come in voids or "defects" here and there. Builder uses mortar to bind a bunch of irregularly shaped stones together. Yet, the deformities contribute to a stronger bonding than the smooth surfaced bricks. Mortar, magically acts as the mediator, the substance to unite the indifferent stones together.

Likewise, Christians need mortar too. All of us are imperfect, unshaped in different ways, that sometimes the differences are just too extreme to surmount. Even though we are dear brothers and sisters in Christ, but at times we can find ourselves at loggerheads, dissensions take place or fading relationships appear as time goes by. There's always a thousand and one reason that we can easily wrong another fellow believer, as a result, relationships turn hostile.

We all need mortar. The ultimate mortar is Christ Jesus. But in Him, we can find a wide array of elements that are able to bind broken relationships and to ease the tension. Love, forgiveness, kindness, goodness, self-control, gentleness ... Above all, the mortar of Love can sum up all that we need.

"And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." ~ Colossians 3:13-14

A layer of mortar can heal the bumps, fill up the gaps and with a layer of paint a stone wall can look even more fabulous.

A layer of love, with the right quantity and quality is all that we need to build a better world. A right Mortar Ratio Mix incurs 1 part of Cement, 6 parts of sand and 1 part of lime. Then, how much of love is enough? Is it the more the better?

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8.

Love goes beyond. Love compels. Love overwhelms. Love is a verb.

Someone once said, factions always breed fractions. The Churches of Christ should stand united till the second coming of Jesus, relating to the prayer of Christ:

"“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." John 17:20-23

Why then, should we allow cultural differences, languages, backgrounds, personal interests and practices to widen the already existing gap caused by our very own imperfection?

We have something to do, to stir the wind of change, to impact the world, but it all starts from building up unity among the brothers and sisters in our small group setting, then church, then across the churches regardless of the denominations, then over the whole world.

"Be united with other Christians. A wall with loose bricks is not good. The bricks must be cemented together." ~ Corrie Ten Boom

One God. One Faith. One Baptism. Arise and be united.

Pride vs Deficiencies

So let go, let God break the stained glass masquerade into pieces, and in exchange, receive a transparent heart.

It's natural human tendency to pretend we are strong and alright even though our inner world might be crashing down.

We want to cover, we want to hide. We try and strive to project a stainless image. We don't want others to see our blemishes. It will be worse if we try so hard to be a Jekyll and Hyde. Sometimes we are just trying too hard, that we hate ourselves for failing, for messing up, when our weaknesses resurfaced. We want people to see the good side of us, trying to be perfect.

Pride is torturing us, little do we realize we have become a slave to our own pride. Pride is drifting us too far that comments are unacceptable. Advises are intolerable. We become defensive. We think our own reflection and evaluation are more accurate. We misquote the Scripture to say " Who are you to judge me? " It's our pride against our very own deficiencies.

John Newton threw a good statement there. Open our eyes and see the truth. Humility takes us to greater heights. We ought to remind ourselves we are not seeking the approval from men but God alone. God knows our inner self, our failures, our weaknesses, our deficiencies.

I learn not to be ashamed of my our weaknesses and incapability. As a traveler, I learn to admit "Erm, I can't do it." "Sorry I don't know about that." I am willing to learn.

How can I learn the value of humility that Christ has when I only allow the world to see my strength and not my weakness? How can I ever enhance and strengthen my deficiencies if others are not allowed to intervene?

I learned the hard way in my teenage years that it's frustratingly tiring to keep covering up, pretending that I am better, I am alright, I am strong when I am not.

Learning to say Sorry or to admit our Weakness isn't easy, but by saying that, we are one step towards humility and one step away from pride. He gives grace to the humble, opposes the proud.

The Scripture assures us that God's mercy and grace is new every single morning.

"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." ~ Lamentations 3:22-23

2 Corinthians 12:10 - "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

I realize how strong my God is when I am weak. When there is less of me, I see more of God.

Why then, shall we live like a stained glass masquerade?

So let go, let God break the stained glass masquerade into pieces, and in exchange, receive a transparent heart.

It doesn't matter if the glass is stained because if we are crowned with the helmet of humility, together with the strong support from the brothers and sisters in Christ and working through Christ, we can remove the stains. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. So what counts?

Therefore, we rejoice for we have a great high priest where mercy, grace and help can be found. ♥

Yet I Sin

I know I am not perfect and I can never be. That's why I need a deliverer, a Saviour, a lover of my soul.

Temptations and sins surround me. They are lurking for victims. They are sneaky. I might be strong this minute, but can be totally devastated by the army of Satan in the next to come. Therefore I need a constant guide, a light that shines in the darkness, to protect me, to remind me, and to keep me at His bay. I have tasted the goodness, the mercy, the grace and yet a single slip is enough to destroy.

Again, when I truly gaze at the Cross and meditate the wood, my heart pains.

So this is my prayer. I will pray it everyday to remind myself and to remind the Satan that trying to evoke me. The God who lives in me is bigger than the one out in the world.

Eternal Father,

Thou art good beyond all though,

But I am vile, wretched, miserable, blind;

My lips are ready to confess,

but my heart is slow to feel,

and my ways reluctant to amend.

I bring my soul to thee;

break it, wound it, bend it, mould it.

Unmask to me sin's deformity,

that I may hate it, abhor it, flee from it.

My faculties have been a weapon of revolt against thee;

as a rebel I have misused my strength,

and served the foul adversary of thy kingdom.

Give me grace to bewail my insensate folly,

Grant me to know that the way of transgressors is hard,

that evil paths are wretched paths,

that to depart from thee is to lose all good.

I have seen the purity and beauty of thy perfect law,

the happiness of those in whose heart it reigns,

the calm dignity of the walk to which it calls,

yet I daily violate and contemn its precepts.

Thy loving Spirit strives within me,

brings me Scripture warnings,

speaks in startling providences,

allures by secret whispers,

yet I choose devices and desires to my own hurt,

impiously resent, grieve, and provoke him to abandon me.

All these sins I mourn, lament, and for them cry pardon.

Work in me more profound and abiding repentance;

Give me the fullness of a godly grief that trembles and fears,

yet ever trusts and loves,

which is ever powerful, and ever confident;

Grant that through the tears of repentance

I may see more clearly the brightness

and glories of the saving Cross.

From the Valley of Vision