Carpe Diem

It is pronounced as /ˌkärpā ˈdēˌem/ with exclamation (!).

It simply means to live in the moment and to give little thoughts to the future. 

It goes in line with what I have read in the Scripture today - Matthew 6. It begins with what it truly means to give to needy, to pray and to fast - to practice this spiritual disciplines is good, but do it unto the Lord in SECRET. 

"Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

This is repeated THREE times at every mentioned of the spiritual disciplines - giving to needy, to pray and to fast; 6:4b, 6:6b, 6:18b. It clearly emphasized that our work is not for the purpose of boastfulness or for fueled-up-men-praised. 

After all that is done is secret, Jesus Christ talked about treasures. We ALL loved treasures. Men looked for treasures all their lives - just like pirates in the sea, where as for us is looking for treasures in the sea of men. Treasures come in many forms - money, fame, future spouse and success as how our world packaged it for us. We allow the standard of the world to creep in our lives and be the standard we hold on to. We sometimes failed to realize that even though our mouth said our treasure is Christ alone, but our lives do not lived up to it. When trials come, we find it difficult to cling on to what is unseen rather than what is seen. For instance, if we are going through difficult period of time financially, we find it so hard to part with our money and we struggle with giving (I have been through it and I realized how true is that). 

Our Lord puts it clearly for us, that we CANNOT SERVE TWO MASTERS. He was not ambiguous on the matter - he state it clearly YOU CANNOT SERVE BOTH GOD AND MONEY. 

Although this was a firm instruction from God, we still struggle in our daily lives. The Lord knows it will not be easy. Hence, the following verses 25 - 34, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. He reassured us of the creations our Father in heaven created. He never once fail to feed the birds; the flowers in the field, He clothed them beautifully, 

So, why worry? Our Father in Heaven have already prepared for our every needs. 

CARPE DIEM!

IN THIS MOMENT, Live for God! 

Seek His Kingdom! Seek His righteousness! 

Ask yourselves this, have my DAILY NEEDS ever been neglected by God? (not wants)

If you are able to read this online, it does mean you are very much well off compared to many people in this world who lived in difficult situations.

Have we lost IT?

Have you ever wondered that have we LOST the REVERENCE and AWE for our GOD?

If you and I claimed that God Almighty is so POWERFUL, what is our extent of reverence and awe towards Him? If He creates the whole world from nothing, how much do we revere Him?

I have been pondering long and hard on this matter. I really wondered. I asked myself, do I really REVERE Him for who He is? Truth to be told, sometimes I don't even revered Him because I can tuned off or just switched to complacency mode that I think to myself I can escape from it, because my God is gracious.

I have seen us now carrying digital Bibles wherever we go. So easy to access, yet we do not read our Bible. I have seen people (including myself) replying whatsapps messages in churches during sermon time. Some say it is multitasking, but are we just giving excuses to ourselves and justifying our actions? I have seen people who played games on their smart phones, or even scrolling facebook posts for the matter. They said upfront, "I am not doing anything WRONG." Some people just said we should not be so rigid in this. It is okay, because here they are in church still.

There is something we are not addressing here. We need to address this matter. We are heading down the direction of COMPLACENCY.

We have become so lenient in so many things today. Technology is good, but technology should not be the one that controls our minds to draw us away from God.

What is the crux of the matter?

Really, let's just really confront our inner self and asked ourselves, HOW MUCH DO I REALLY LOVE GOD? Is He just another God that I call in my religion? How much do I LOVE Him that He deserves the reverence and awe in my life?


Few months back I have read the book of Ecclesiastes, till now this had stayed with my heart firmly.

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: 

Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 

For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing whether it is good or evil. 

Ecclesiastes 12:13 - 14 



Now, it is up to you and me. 

Amazing Spiderman 2: NEED / HOPE?

I love movies that I can relate to. Remembering Amazing Spiderman 2 – the main themes that are depicted so perfectly in the movie, which are NEED and HOPE. Peter Parker is NEEDed by the New Yorkers to feel safe in their community and fighting against bad people. He HOPE to be giver of HOPE to his society. Peter NEED to know the truth of what had happened to his parents and drawing the links of different events. He HOPE the truth is that his parents did not abandoned him and discovering the truth of all the links. Gwen Stacey NEED Peter to fight for her and not him just letting her go because her father made him promise to stay away from her. She HOPE that Peter is willing to risk life with her. MAX, the nerd who wants to feel to be NEEDed in his own community of coworkers and people around him. One statement of, “I NEED YOU” had given a glimpse of HOPE to Max. Because of his great desire of wanting to feel needed, in the scene of the city with flowing electricity and lights, when Spiderman took away his ‘fame’ when people had noticed him, he was furious. Instead of being partners with Spidey, he decided he is going to make people need him like how they need Spidey. He HOPE to be seen by the world and people counting on him. Harry, a rich man’s son NEEDs help with his genetic disease. With only a short time he had and his father’s accomplice that wanted to take over the company, he was pushed to the point of no return. Because of another man’s greed, he suffered the consequences of being in NEED. He NEED his NEED to be fulfilled. He HOPE to be heal and not die a horrible death. At the end, Spiderman lost hope because Gwen had died snapping from his web. It is in Gwen’s speech, that Spiderman begins to see the light of HOPE to fulfill a need.

NEED brings about positive or negative responses. There are many needs in our world today that craves for our attentions. The need to care and to be cared for. The need to give and be given. The need to listen and be listen to. The need to speak up and shut up. The need to take a stand. The need to pray. And the list goes on. I asked, what is then a NEED that I can fulfill in my lifetime? Where then should I focus my attention to? What are the drivers that drive me to the needs I see? With these questions, HOPE comes to mind. HOPE gives life. Hope brings change. Hope gives a positive kind of future.

In our world, everyone wants to feel needed and wants their need to be fulfilled or answered. There’s a saying that goes, ‘No man is an island’. This is because at the end of day, we are in these positions of being needed and fulfilling our needs. However, our former needs should not make us feel indispensable, where as our latter needs should not be the key to how we relate to people (to just take what we want from people to ‘fulfill’ our needs). Also, we want to be HOPEFUL too. We want to be the ones that gives people HOPE to live. However, we cannot sustain by giving people HOPE if our source of hope comes entirely from ourselves. We will eventually come to a point of drying out and needing to find the meaning of HOPE again for ourselves.

In a Christian worldview, Jesus is our source of HOPE which is the giver of life to our being. Tentatively, Jesus will be our ultimate NEED in life. He should be ultimately the one thing that our hearts desire most compared to many things that is in our life. Just like how the song, ‘Jesus be the center of it all’ puts it; he ought to be in the center of everything we do and everything we revolve ourselves by. From our perspectives, to journey on this race of life, we NEED God in anything and everything we do. We can rely on our own strength to run this race. It’s impossible. It’s impossible to say, ‘God, I got this life thing all figured out. I even GOT us figured out! I know I am strong in You no matter what happened…….’ But, the fact is we can never figure who God is ultimately. We only catch a GLIMPSE of who He is. We can never say for sure how strong we will REMAIN in Him. This is because we are human. Our eyes and perspectives will be clouded with disillusionment when we began to rely on our own strength to carry on this faith. We NEED God to grow even more hungry for His WORD. We NEED God to grow our faith in Him. We NEED God to overcome every single temptations that comes our way. We NEED God to help us see His fingerprints in our journey of life. We NEED God to teach us to be patience, to wait, to learn, to unlearn, to relearn, to forgive, to give, to praise, and more…in every aspects of our life, WE NEED HIM! Why? Because He gave us HOPE to venture on this life even how difficult it may seems to travel on. How then do I remained in this HOPE of God? By discovering Him through His Word and experiencing living in Spirit with Him.

That brings me back to the few questions I had asked earlier, “What is then a NEED that I can fulfill in my lifetime? Where then should I focus my attention to? What are the drivers that drive me to the needs I see?” The needs I see to be fulfilled in other people’s life is driven by the compelling HOPE I found in my Saviour. Even in my focus of my attention to it. I yearn to do a lot of things, however to do a lot of things is to go on a road that will not divide my attention to it which do not allowed me to give my best in it. So, I’ll continue to fix my eyes on Jesus Christ no matter what happens and be faithful in the small things He had given in my life.

Where is your HOPE?

What drives your NEED?

Reflection on 1 Kings 17-19

So, this has been on my mind lately... What does it means to live life for God who fulfill every words that was said?

I read about Elijah in 1 Kings 17-19. What caught my attention in this passages is Elijah's encounter with the widow and the son that did not have enough to survive for the weeks (1 Kings 17: 7-24). The widow just decided to use what is left and make bread to eat and wait for death with the son. But, here comes Elijah that met her, not anyone else, and asked her to make him BREAD first with the little she have.

He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so that I may have a drink?"
And as she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread."
"As surely as the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don't have any bread - only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it - and die. 
Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 
For this is what the LORD, the GOD of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land."

AND SHE DID.

She made a small bread for Elijah. Just as the LORD had said in verse 9: Go at once to Zaraphath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food. The LORD kept His words. But what happened after that, the widow's son DIED. (Read it for yourself)

What a tragic incident? Put yourself in the widow's shoes.

First, is the lost of hope to live because there are only so little to survive on. Then, a hope came and Elijah gave the words from the LORD that the jar of flour and oil will never run dry until the LORD gives rain.
Did the widow find hope in the days to come?

They did have more than enough. Not only for her and her son, but for her family. Then, comes the testing when her son died. The widow's reactions changes abruptly. Instead of believing that the LORD that had provided more than enough and being in the midst of miracle in this season of drought, her faith fell. She couldn't believe no more.

The LORD was gracious. Elijah brought the boy to the LORD. The LORD healed him completely.

Now, the widow said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of GOD and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth."

Look at her reactions, even through the first miracle that she can see it with her naked eyes, she couldn't bring herself to believe. But, with the second miracle that happened in her household, she finally realised how powerful the GOD that Elijah served. The widow lived a life based on what she sees. Believe only by the things she sees.

Back to my question, what does it means to live life for God? It means to live a life that goes beyond what our vision bring us to. It's more than what we can understand with our puny minds.

Through the lens of the widow, she saw life was comfortable just as long as her necessities do not run dry. When tragic happened, her faith is shaken. She could no longer believe in this God who provided for her family. Another miracle to happen to reaffirm the faith of this widow. And this time round you and I know for sure as we read about her response to Elijah, she is not turning back anymore.

Because her son that died is resurrected and lived as a living testimony in front of her eyes everyday. 

Now, you will asked me, does that has to happen to me to FINALLY be like the widow to believe?

I don't think so. Because that is why the account of an UNKNOWN lady, plus a widow (simply to wrap it up, she is a nobody) that the account of her faith is documented in the Bible.

Personally, the LORD is asking me, "Who is at command?". The Lord is saying to me, "To trust and fix my eyes upon Him no matter what happen."

Do read the text for yourself. Understand what the widow goes through and see through her lens.

Will we have faith that goes beyond vision and our understanding?

Will we be able to believe a God who holds to His every word? 

What is the LORD asking of you? 

Come near to God and he will come near to you

Come near to God and he will come near to you.

– James, one of the fathers of the first-century church –

I read of this story. I find that it explained the above statement clearly. 

There’s a story of a man driving a convertible on a mountain road who took an unexpected turn too quickly and went right over the edge. As his car fell, he managed to grab on to a tree sprouting from the cliff face as his car dropped a thousand feet to the canyon floor.

 

“Help!” he screamed. “Can anyone hear me?” An echo was the only response.

 “God, can you hear me?” he cried.

Suddenly the clouds rolled together and a voice like thunder said, “Yes, I can hear you.”

“Will you help me?”

“Yes, I will help you. Do you believe in me?”

“Yes, yes, I trust you. Please, hurry.”

“If you trust me, then let go of the tree,” thundered the voice.

After a long silence, the man cried, “Can anyone else hear me?”

We trust God in good times, when bad times come about, our faith is tested. Unrealisingly, sometimes we act like the man holding onto the tree. We expect God to work in our means or ways. When it is not according to our ways, we swapped sides. We go back to expecting help in the form we want.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heaven are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts Isaiah 55:8-9.

So, the equation is simple. Come near to God and he will come near to you. When you desire to be near to God, it must be put to actions and then you will know His heartbeats. He will come near YOU, means your senses will be refined knowing He is there carrying you through, because from the beginning, he is already near you. 

The question is whether do you realize and acknowledge your DEPENDANCE on GOD? 

Are you near Him today? 

[John C. Maxwell: Today Matters, Today's FAITH Gives Me Peace, pg. 197- 213]

D-MOLITION!

Demolition in progress! Tear down! Abolish! *COUGH* oh-the-dust! An image appeared in my mind: a building that is going through a construction. It is not a pretty sight. Everything looks so bare and dusty. The air in a constructed-building is not clean. Tearing down is a COSTLY job. For construction, well it will be definitely more expansive than just putting a new coat of paint on it. But, if an old building just continue to be RE-painted, the old cracking structure beneath the paint will break out and reveal itself in a short  period of time. Stripping down the old structure is COSTLY, but it is a necessary one.

How then this applies to us personally in our life? 

The old structure that we have built throughout our life is our thoughts. The experiences we went through, our upbringing, our principles, our philosophy; all contribute to the way we think. This then slowly build up a STRONGHOLD in our life. 

What does STRONGHOLD means? In Greek, it means HARD PLACE. The stronghold we built could be a spiritual stronghold. The spiritual stronghold is a faulty thinking pattern based on lies and deception we tell ourselves. What we think can manifest physically in our body. Example, if you think you are ugly, then you won't look in the mirror and be thankful for who you are. If you think you are stupid, then low self-esteem sets in. 

We NEED to break this STRONGHOLD! Demolition of own-built-thoughts need to be tear down! It is HARD. It is PAINFUL. It is COSTLY. But it is indeed a NECESSARY one! 

It is hard to let go of something that had been "attached" or "known" to us for all our life (up to what age you are). What is it to you that you continue to live in the "darkness" and feeling lowly of yourself. This is not what our God had created you for. Let the breaking of old thoughts begin, and build on what His thoughts He has for you.

Ephesians 4:22 - 24

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.  

When strongholds of thoughts are being broken down, then RE-BUILDING of self could happen.

What are you building your life upon?
Layering a new platform is important. The layer of foundation is crucial. Jesus Christ need to be platform in your life. His say must be your say. We are to be build on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with  Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone Ephesians 2:20.  

Friends, demolish the strongholds.  

Let Go and Let God take control of your life. 

Don't miss out on the great things He had in store for you! 

Greatest Simple Truth of All.

SOVEREIGN

It is formation of two words. 'Sove' and 'Reign'. What's the meaning of both this words? 'Reign', means to be in charge, where as, 'Sove' means over all. If I were to put sovereign in simple terms, it means to be in charge over all. Therefore, when we know this simple truth, we need to realize that God who is merciful is sovereign over our life, and the universe. This is the greatest truth of who God is.

Romans 8:28

Nothing is outside His control, and He controls everything to work out ultimately for our good. 

When He say He is in control, He is. Everything, from challenging experiences to good experiences to bad experiences, He work it out for good. Even though when we are caught in difficult situation, we may not see the goodness. However, when we look back at our experiences, our hearts are filled with gratitude, because knowing well that He is God who is in charge over all.  

Psalm 139:2-4

You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.

When I read this verses, I thought to myself, how amazing that God has eyes focusing on me at all times. Not just eyes, but His whole being is set on me. (the tune playing in my mind, I got my eyes set on you!). I used to think I could hide from Him, who am I kidding? I'm only in denial with myself. He got his eyes set on me! :D

1 Chronicles 29:11

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power 

and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, 

for everything in heaven and earth is yours. 

Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. 

Amazing truth! How awesome and majestic Our GOD is. EVERYTHING on EARTH and in HEAVEN is His. We are His. The creations are His. The beautiful sunset are His. The stars up above in the universe are His. The universe is His. The undiscoverable universe is also His. All in all, are His. Thus, He is to be glorify! 

How long will God reign and be the highest ruler? In Exodus 15:18 The LORD shall reign forever and ever. 

This simple truth allow us to live joyfully at all times, especially at the most trying times in our lives. Because deep down in our hearts, we know very well, He has got everything under His control. He got his eyes set on YOU!