Back Again

Finally after more than two months I am able find time again to write this post. How I wish I was busy doing things for the church but it was job related issue. I really missed updating this blog, writing post about the faith we share, about the Christ we are living for, about the love that God has been showing us. I hope that I will still be able to write further. I really missed this. GOD BLESS EVERYONE!

Do Not Worry.

Coping with our challenging life situations depends not on our own wisdom or ingenuity. It depends on out willingness to release them to a loving and sufficient God, seeking His face to sustain us.

All of us like to feel that we have control. If you express anxiety or fear to your friend most of the time the response is, "Don't worry, it will work out all right." It means that everywhere we turn we are always told not to worry.

Don't worry because when you worry Bobby McFerrin says, "In your life expext some trouble. When you worry you make it double. Don't worry be happy."

What worries or concerns cause you to feel stress, anxiety or fear?

Forgiveness

Two months or so ago, one of my friends forwarded me a text message. It was a simple text message about a son who asks his father what forgiveness is. You might have received or read this message before and it goes something like this.

A little boy asked his father...

Boy: Father, what is forgiveness?

Then father smiled and looked straightly to his son's eyes.

Father: Son, it may not be the exact meaning of forgiveness that I can give. But I can say that forgiveness is like the fragrance given by the flowers when they are crushed.

Easter

This is the day when our saviour fulfilled his task. That was to save his people from the fire of hell. This was a great victory for all of us as God gave up his life to have us redeemed and shared the life with Him the way he intended it to be in the beginning. sad to say most people do not really understand the true meaning of this, it maybe because of ignorance but this is not a valid excuse. I pray that someday all of the people especially Christians would know and understand the message of christ's death, the message of love, the message of salvation, the message of reconcilliation, the message of being together again, of forgiveness, of acceptance, of peace, of victory and of harmony.

God Bless You, and may you continue to live in the presence of God, with God in your heart and in everything you do in life!


© Youth Under Christ's Kingdom

Relationship With God

Being a Christian is not about keeping rules ang regulations, doing rituals or even going to church every week, but it is about entering a relationship with the one, living and true God. And becoming a Christian is by entering that relationship.

God made us himself and He created us to know and live for Him.

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' - Acts 17:24-28

No Other Time But Now

One of the famous lines that I always think of is "There is no other time but now", I really have no idea who originally said this but for me, this seven-letter-word is enough to tell us that we should be doing something right now. Something meaningful and will benefit us and others from. I am always saying this to myself whenever I remember this line but my problem is I am still unable to practice it because of lots of stuff that fill my mind. Distractions and lack of self discipline are my main problems.

Being Jesus

Have you heard of the story about a young cowardly soldier named Alexander who served under the command of Alexander The Great, one of the greatest military leaders in history?. This young soldier was brought before the mighty general to face his punishment for his gutless actions.

Alexander The Great asked the young soldier, "What is your name, soldier?" "Alexander, your highness." the soldier replied. Enraged by his answer, the general asked the soldier again two more times to say his name aloud. But each time the same reply was given. after soldier replied the third time, Alexander The Great looked him straight in the eye and said with burning fury, "Soldier, either change your behavior or change your name."

In much same way, when we call ourselves Christians, we are taking on Christ's name. As the Alexander the Great story challenges, are living up to that name?

C.S Lewis once said that for every person you encounter in your day, you either lead them one step closer to heaven or one step closer to hell. Most of the people who need God's grace around the world will encounter you personally, the only question is which path are you going to lead them?

 © Youth Under Christ's Kingdom

Ecclesiastes 12

Remember your Creator
       in the days of your youth,
       before the days of trouble come
       and the years approach when you will say,
       "I find no pleasure in them"-
  before the sun and the light
       and the moon and the stars grow dark,
       and the clouds return after the rain;
  when the keepers of the house tremble,
       and the strong men stoop,
       when the grinders cease because they are few,
       and those looking through the windows grow dim;
  when the doors to the street are closed
       and the sound of grinding fades;
       when men rise up at the sound of birds,
       but all their songs grow faint;
  when men are afraid of heights
       and of dangers in the streets;
       when the almond tree blossoms
       and the grasshopper drags himself along
       and desire no longer is stirred.
       Then man goes to his eternal home
       and mourners go about the streets.
  Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
       or the golden bowl is broken;
       before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
       or the wheel broken at the well,
  and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
       and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
  "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher.
       "Everything is meaningless!


© Youth Under Christ's Kingdom

Worship is...

What comes into your mind when you hear worship?

According to Merriam Webster worship is: A reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; also : an act of expressing such reverence and a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual.

What are the things that you consider worship? Is worship when you only sing songs to God at church? Raising your hands towards the heaven? Closing your eyes when praying? Uttering words of honor and praise to God? or everything you do in church is worship? Yes they are worship. But not limited to stuff like those, worship is far more than what it is used to be or what it is meant to be by word.

When I hear the word worship, it does not only happen in church with our church mates but mostly also outside the four walls of our churches with other people who are unbelievers.

Many of us sometimes forget what worship is all about when we are out of church, when we are moving and interact with the real world, with the real battlefield, in a place where worship should be practiced importantly and diligently.


For me worship is also...

- Honoring God's name
- Loving God
- Thinking God in every thing you do
- Trusting Him more especially in times of trials
- Following what Jesus told us to do during His time here on earth
- Trusting and believing God's word
- Sharing the salvation to other whenever there is opportunity
- Practicing justice
- Loving people
- Serving other people
- Doing simple things in the name of Jesus
- Extending arms to people who are hurting and are in need of help
- Declaring victory over trials and problems
- And all other things no matter how big or small they are as long as they glorify God's name, I can say it is worship

What about you? How do you define worship in your own way? Or should we say how do you practice worship in your own way? I may not know you personally but I am sure that you also have lots of ways of showing your worship to God. Just always keep in mind that as long as it is according to the word of God, giving glory to God, pleasing to the eyes of God, not breaking the law of God, and putting smile on God's face, it is worship.

© Youth Under Christ's Kingdom

Seek God Wholeheartedly

I just realized that as a Christian and follower of Jesus, one of the things that we should maintain in our life is to continue seeking Him. Continue seeking His face, glory and guidance for the rest of our life in walking with Him. It does not mean that if you are already a christian, you will stop seeking God, because before what I understand was, seeking God was only for those who have not found God yet in their life. I was wrong. We should continue to seek God's face, and the more we look and long for Him the more we become attach to Him and the more we continue to know God deeply.

God's word promises, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" in Jeremiah 29:13 NIV. And we are also being promised that God "rewards those who sincerly seek Him" Jeremiah 11:6.

I can say to myself that when we say wholeheartedly, it is equivalent to say "with our heart or with all our heart and sincerly." Means that whatever we do while following Jesus, we should be doing it with all our heart or together with our heart and not only because we are after the rewards. Doing with heart or wholeheatedly also means that we are doing it because we love to do it and we are enjoying it and not because we need to or have to or we are being forced to do it. Let us wholeheartedly seek God.

Let me give you some little tips on how we can continue to seek God. Although it is little for me but I believe that it will help us tremendously in walking with God and help us know Him better as we continue following and living a life with Him.

First is by reading His word regularly. Many I have heard that reading God's word is one of the ways of how we listen to God. It is really impossible to know God without listening to Him, so reading your bible is a must. Some of you may say that I do not have time to read my bible due to some activities and circumstances that are out of my control but I do make sure that I go to church every sunday and listen to our pastor's message and closely listen to the bible passages he shares, which is undisputedly good but I strongly advised to read the bible yourself or experience it first hand and not second hand. First hand means you read the bible with your very own eyes while second hand means you encounter it by listening to someone saying or reading the bible.

So listen to God, read the bible. We listen to him when we consistently spend time in the scriptures. Psalms 119:15-16: "I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways. I will delight in your principles and not forget your words."

Second way we practice our desire and sincerity in seeking God is by being obedient to what He commands us to do. Obeying God does not only shows how we really love him but also this is one of the ways of putting smile on God's face. I remember Jesus said and promised in John 14:21, "Those who obey my commandments are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my father will love them, and I will love them. And I will reveal myself to each one of them.

Dr. Bill Bright said that sin, rebellion and disobedience blind us to the light of God's magnificence. If you want to get closer to God and know Him intimately, then you must be willing to obey Him in all things.

Third and last thing I will share is by Praying. If reading God's word is the way we listen to Him, then Praying is talking to Him. To know Him more, we should not only listen to Him, we should also talk to Him. Tell him what you need, what you feel and everything about you in prayer. Although God knows everything about you, He still longs for your voice talking to Him personaly like a dad talking to his son.

Most of all let us do all these things with love in our hearts. Seek God wholeheartedly and above all love God wholeheartedly. Just like one my favorite bible verses says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." - Mark 12:30.