It's so not easy making a commitment, especially one to God. You have to put everything else behind Him. If you have something else on the day of your weekly church service, then that something else will have to go, even if it's something important like a class gathering. You can, of course, choose to go for your other commitments but God will know that He is not your Lord yet. You claim that you love Him, but God knows since He is the one who knows us the best.
Going to church has never been a more exciting event. It rocks. Between a Mayday concert and a church service, i would choose to go for churh, naturally, although that is not what i think last time. I thought that what's the big deal with services? It takes place every single week, and to miss it once is like nothing, since i can still go the next week. And it's like the same thing each week! Worship session, then sermon, then they will ask the usual things, then another worship session. Over and over it happens, so what's really the big deal if i dun go? It's not like i will stop loving God if i break my commitment to Him once in a while right?
Well, the thing is, if you really know in your heart that God loves you, and you really understand that He died for you, then naturally, you will put Him as your first priority, not your studies, not your family, not your career, not your friends and not your partners. If you think that you can afford to miss one session because you have something else to attend, or because you have to stay home to mug for a test which happens the next day and which you have not yet studied for then the answer is clear. You have not yet understood fully in your heart His love for you. You only know that in your mind.
Hmm, being a Christian is not easy, in fact it's so difficult that sometimes i feel tired and have thought of giving up. Many people are put off by the fact that Christians view their God as their first and their parents only take second place! They think it's weird, that our thoughts are twisted. Why is God so important to us? He's so domineering that even a close second place cannot do for Him? And it's not like He lacks followers. He is simply such a domineering God with some kind of 'King-complex'!
This is the sad thing. To others, they cannot understand the meaning of the cross. To your friends, they think you're trying to act holy and that you think you're more superior to other people. You try to say things to make them understand but they will just roll their eyes at you. Take my brother as an example. When i say that i've been to Jackie Pullinger's conference yesterday and that she is one who helps prostitutes and drug addicts, he scoffs. I can't explain my inner feelings without me sounding like a poor thing, subject to the mercy of others. The thing is that it doesn't mean that you are better and holier to the others if you are a Christian.The truth is you have to suffer what Jesus has to suffer. When you say that you are a child of God, you must be prepared to experience what Jesus has suffered before. Heartache, pain, and humiliation. If you choose to follow Him, there will be opposition, whether it's from your family or from people whom you don't even know. Whenever im faced with such situations, whereby there are so many things which i'll like to say and yet can't say, i will inevitably have the feeling that im alone and that there is no one else around to help me, or to even understand how i feel. Sometimes i forget that whatever things which i've been through, Jesus has been through all that years ago, except in a million times more. God understands it all. All these while, He's been by my side. When i face rejection, even from other Christians whom i know, He's always there. In fact all the way back, before He even created the world, He thought of me. He thought of us, yes, every one of us, all the thousands of millions of people around the whole world, ALL OF US. (Now, He's brilliant to even create the world so what are figures to Him?)
Brothers and sisters, when your heart turns cold and your passion is no longer for Him, just come back before the cross and let Him renew your heart. Sometimes it's indeed not easy to live up to the expectations of people so why not please God and do everything for His glory? When you really place Him at the top of your priorities, things will fall into place smoothly. After all, which loving Father will not want to give the best to His children?
Galatians 1:10
Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am i trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Sometimes we try so hard to win the approval of our friends, we don't want to face rejection. We don't want to be outcasted, we want to 'belong'. That's a sad thing with our generation. Many people are so afraid of rejection they go with the flow. What their friends do, they do, whether it's having the same food as their friends are having to something like taking drugs when everyone else are doing it. The thing is, which is a constant? God or men? Men can change but God will never change. He's still the same when he created the world. He's still the same when Jesus died and He's still the same now, in this century, this time. Similarly, His love for you will never ever change.
John 15:18-19
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it it, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
John 15:21
They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.
Sometimes i feel like slapping people, including my friends, who question me and my God. Yet, sometimes i feel like removing myself from the stand that i have, that is im a christian, so that i can be spared from persecution. But, God's love never fails to rev me up like quality oil does to an engine. I want to learn to love people like how God loves me. That is to love them no matter what they say or did. When God's perfect love fills you, it would be difficult to hate someone and easy to forgive people.
2 Corinthians 4:8
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
I thank God for his strength which carries me over the stupid things which i have to, out of obligation. why do they have to have project work in the first place? is it really that effective? i dun think so, considering how there can be 'unenthusiastic' people. that's the worst thing.
Going to church has never been a more exciting event. It rocks. Between a Mayday concert and a church service, i would choose to go for churh, naturally, although that is not what i think last time. I thought that what's the big deal with services? It takes place every single week, and to miss it once is like nothing, since i can still go the next week. And it's like the same thing each week! Worship session, then sermon, then they will ask the usual things, then another worship session. Over and over it happens, so what's really the big deal if i dun go? It's not like i will stop loving God if i break my commitment to Him once in a while right?
Well, the thing is, if you really know in your heart that God loves you, and you really understand that He died for you, then naturally, you will put Him as your first priority, not your studies, not your family, not your career, not your friends and not your partners. If you think that you can afford to miss one session because you have something else to attend, or because you have to stay home to mug for a test which happens the next day and which you have not yet studied for then the answer is clear. You have not yet understood fully in your heart His love for you. You only know that in your mind.
Hmm, being a Christian is not easy, in fact it's so difficult that sometimes i feel tired and have thought of giving up. Many people are put off by the fact that Christians view their God as their first and their parents only take second place! They think it's weird, that our thoughts are twisted. Why is God so important to us? He's so domineering that even a close second place cannot do for Him? And it's not like He lacks followers. He is simply such a domineering God with some kind of 'King-complex'!
This is the sad thing. To others, they cannot understand the meaning of the cross. To your friends, they think you're trying to act holy and that you think you're more superior to other people. You try to say things to make them understand but they will just roll their eyes at you. Take my brother as an example. When i say that i've been to Jackie Pullinger's conference yesterday and that she is one who helps prostitutes and drug addicts, he scoffs. I can't explain my inner feelings without me sounding like a poor thing, subject to the mercy of others. The thing is that it doesn't mean that you are better and holier to the others if you are a Christian.The truth is you have to suffer what Jesus has to suffer. When you say that you are a child of God, you must be prepared to experience what Jesus has suffered before. Heartache, pain, and humiliation. If you choose to follow Him, there will be opposition, whether it's from your family or from people whom you don't even know. Whenever im faced with such situations, whereby there are so many things which i'll like to say and yet can't say, i will inevitably have the feeling that im alone and that there is no one else around to help me, or to even understand how i feel. Sometimes i forget that whatever things which i've been through, Jesus has been through all that years ago, except in a million times more. God understands it all. All these while, He's been by my side. When i face rejection, even from other Christians whom i know, He's always there. In fact all the way back, before He even created the world, He thought of me. He thought of us, yes, every one of us, all the thousands of millions of people around the whole world, ALL OF US. (Now, He's brilliant to even create the world so what are figures to Him?)
Brothers and sisters, when your heart turns cold and your passion is no longer for Him, just come back before the cross and let Him renew your heart. Sometimes it's indeed not easy to live up to the expectations of people so why not please God and do everything for His glory? When you really place Him at the top of your priorities, things will fall into place smoothly. After all, which loving Father will not want to give the best to His children?
Galatians 1:10
Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am i trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Sometimes we try so hard to win the approval of our friends, we don't want to face rejection. We don't want to be outcasted, we want to 'belong'. That's a sad thing with our generation. Many people are so afraid of rejection they go with the flow. What their friends do, they do, whether it's having the same food as their friends are having to something like taking drugs when everyone else are doing it. The thing is, which is a constant? God or men? Men can change but God will never change. He's still the same when he created the world. He's still the same when Jesus died and He's still the same now, in this century, this time. Similarly, His love for you will never ever change.
John 15:18-19
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it it, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
John 15:21
They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.
Sometimes i feel like slapping people, including my friends, who question me and my God. Yet, sometimes i feel like removing myself from the stand that i have, that is im a christian, so that i can be spared from persecution. But, God's love never fails to rev me up like quality oil does to an engine. I want to learn to love people like how God loves me. That is to love them no matter what they say or did. When God's perfect love fills you, it would be difficult to hate someone and easy to forgive people.
2 Corinthians 4:8
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
I thank God for his strength which carries me over the stupid things which i have to, out of obligation. why do they have to have project work in the first place? is it really that effective? i dun think so, considering how there can be 'unenthusiastic' people. that's the worst thing.
posted by miaochen at
9:32 pm
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