Blessings in Disguise

Long time no see, Internet.

It has been definitely way too long since I last wrote here.
I have missed you a lot.

Today, I wanted to write about this phrase, "Blessings in Disguise".
It was a topic that came up in my youth class today. During my class, the kids had a strange way of bringing out the topic of Blessings in Disguise.

It got my thinking gears moving.

How often is it that we just do not see any blessings in our lives?
Especially on things that we just endlessly complain about?

"Sun is shining too bright on me today, I couldn't sleep."
"It was too rainy to go out and enjoy the weather."
"I have too many things to do, all I want is rest."


Why can't we say "all I want is God"?

Nope, scratch that.

Why can't we just appreciate that God love us?
Why can't we just be thankful that Jesus Christ showed us the greatest compassion, the greatest sacrifice, and most importantly, the greatest love that no one can replicate?

Whether it is good or bad, it always is a blessing.
It is still within God's plan for us to be built up in our daily walks.





Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
- Proverbs 19:21


Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
- Psalm 73:23-26

His Glory is Beautiful and His promise is everlasting. It is so encouraging just knowinn that He is God and He is there to give us His plan according to His time.




Good or bad, it is all good in Him.

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Body of Church, Body of Christ - Part 3

It sure has been a long time since I wrote my last blog.

Love-packed month with GKYM, Mosaic Retreat, and all the other things that have been going on in my life. I guess I have not had a chance to sit in front of a computer and write what I feel about the body of the church.

This will my last series on Body of Church, Body of Christ.

To summarize the Body of the Church, it is necessary to remember that church is not a physical place. Church is spiritual, church is behavioural, church is sometimes abstract. The church in the bible can only be explained by the people, those who follow Christ and put Christ as the head.

With this in mind, Christians are given the opportunity to love, to be passionate, to have fellowship, and to train together. 

One member from Hillsong United said this at the concert I recently went to. He talked to the congregation about salvation.

He showed how the idea of Christian life is not as hard as people think. This convicted me deeply. 
So many people in the world are scared to devote their lives in God. But really is not something He needs from us. He does not need us to "support" Him or "Live for Him and Glorify His name". He is well-off without us, probably even more well-off. It's by His Grace that we have a chance, not the other way around. 

Firstly, Hillsong asked everyone for an altar call, THOUSANDS of people to alter call. Although only God knows who really received Jesus as their personal saviour and Lord, it still was a moment of surrounding love. 
The member said;
- First thing to do, is to talk to others about your salvation and greatness of God, how your life has changed. 
- Secondly, go find a church, and then be the church.
- and lastly, take your Bible and make it your own. Read it all the time and sincerely, think about the verse and pray about it. 

There really is no other thing in life. Life is just an opportunity that God gave us. Without this life, we would be just going straight to hell, the moment that we were born, or even, born in hell. 

Sometimes, that scares the crap out of me. The idea that we wouldn't be born into this life but we would be born into hell. This opportunity of 60~80 years of age is such a blessing from God. 

Psalm 28:7 says:

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

The fact that he gave as a living chance, the fact that we are far from deserving any piece of it, but he still gave it to us, is amazing. 
We are saved from His strength, from His shield and we should be, if at least, thankful.

I hope you all see this biggest miracle of love. 

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Body of Church, Body of Christ - Part 2

As the second part of this series, here is a clip by Francis Chan describing the church in the bible. 
Church in the Bible shows that there is a lot of passion and unity.

Francis Chan explains the church in the Bible in a very simple terms,

In the video, he talks about 4 aspects of church:  

Love, Passion for sharing the gospel, Fellowship and Bible Training.

Love

Love is an important aspect about a church. Church is a group of people who love each other and lift another. This love is not from us sinners but from Jesus who loved us so much. God loves everyone in every way and there is nothing that can come between us and His love. The unending love is so amazing since we try so hard to refuse and yet, He still loves us no matter what. 

Passion for gospel

The people in the first church had one goal: to spread the gospel to the world, sharing the good news. Every moment is a mission for us as that is what we are born to be. All we can do is talk about how amazing God is and how He has changed our lives. 

Fellowship

God gives us the people, and the church to support another and to lift another. The accountability of fellowship is so important since we are living in a sinful world. When there is a member who is struggling, we are accountable for each other and to serve another. The importance of fellowship comes from serving another.

Bible Training

When someone died for us to save us from death and eternal separation from God, why can't we spend just a little more time to learn more about that someone? Jesus has lowered Himself to be one of us, and to die in the hands of people He saves. To know more of Him is crucial as a church.

Acts 20 : 28 says,
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

To have the life with love and passion is something so amazing, and to know that God gave us this, is even more amazing.

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Body of Church, Body of Christ - Part 1

What does the Bible say about the church?

People of the world tend to have an idea of the church but have negative connotation of the fellowship and unity of the church.

In the next couple blogs, I will be talking about the church and where it belongs in terms of the Bible. What does the church represent? In fact, what does Jesus represent?

In this world, the church is misinterpreted as a building or an institution. 

I believe that the most important thing about church is that "Church is not where we go, but who we are." It is an abstract concept rather than a physical place.

The church in the bible was never a building. There was no billboard directing to a "CHURCH" or a flashing cross to attract people.

The church in the bible was simply a group of people who are passionate about God and the salvation through Jesus.

In Ephesians 2 says,

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

This group that was built in the foundation of Christ Jesus is the church. This church binds the members of the church to love and be passionate about God and the people.

He is absolutely amazing. Jesus loves me so much to have such passionate people around me and I am so thankful. He has given us this opportunity to be a church and build one another up, not to build a building or a mansion or anything like that. 

Don't just go to church. Be the church. Make it your own and feel for the members of the church and other people. 

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