Shine Brightly for Christ

Archive for November 2009

Amazing Grace

Posted by: on: November 25, 2009

It’s been awhile and I find it funny how Alpha decides to post something at the same time as  I was. Although posts haven’t been made here lately, it by no means shows that God has stopped working in my life. When it comes to ministry, sometimes there comes a time when things become very routine and task-oriented and the passion is forgotten. I think there’s always a needed break to step back  because eventually you become a servant running on an empty tank. Maintaining a relationship with the Lord isn’t always going to have its highs on a 24/7 basis. What matters is how we deal with the lows.

I believe that God is pleased by what we do here with this blog but I also know that this isn’t what our salvation is based on. It’s not  determined by how many posts we make or how many viewers we get a week because again, we are only used as His vessels.

Ephesians 2:8-9  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.”

I am reminded by this verse that all the things we do in ministry, such as singing in the worship team, being a youth leader, sunday school teacher, ushering..whatever it may be, will not solely get us our spot into heaven. We could spend so many hours dedicating ourselves to ministry but if our hearts aren’t right with God, then we might as well not do any of it rather than being lukewarm. We start to do these things for ourselves or out of obligation to others rather than God.

& recently that’s where I’ve found myself, feeling dry and burnt out. I’ve been feeling the pressures of all the responsibilities in all parts of my life. It’s a dangerous road to be on. I’ve struggled and have felt the lows, but I’ve also felt God’s love so strongly. I can try to live my life  the way I want or try to hide, but eventually my soul becomes thirsty to be in communion with Him. I am undeserving of God’s patience with me, He is  still actively molding me & building up my character every day. It’s a battle that can be won. & this is why I can really be thankful and come back to the purpose of my existence. I can try & try so hard to please Him by my own abilities but in the end I’ll always fall short. But through the grace and mercies that God offers, I can remember to find peace & rest in what He did for me so i may find my worth through Him and not my own doings.

That’s why this Thanksgiving, I’m just really coming back to the cross in acceptance of my short comings and brokenness. There’s nothing I can do to earn His love and i’ll always fail, but His love never fails.  I’m not perfect or not even close to the woman that He desires me to be. But I am caught by his overwhelming love for me through all my imperfections. The fact that the God of the universe would sacrifice his Holy & blameless Son for a sinner like me so that I could stand clean and forgiven before Him is enough to make me fall to my knees in humility. I stand ashamed but filled with an assurance of knowing that through His blood I can be called His child.  Because of what He did at the cross, I can be in His presence. . Because of what He did, I can be forgiven…Because of what He did, I can live.

I love You more than life, thank you Father for being my Amazing Grace.

Lamentations 3:22-23“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every  morning; great is your faithfulness.”


Out of Love

Posted by: on: November 24, 2009

Follow up with the previous blog(Our responsibility) I post.


We are imperfect people and we  all have fallen short(Romans 3:23) but that doesn’t give us an excuse to neglect our responsibility and sole purpose. We are to die for ourselves and live for Him(Galatians 2:20). To die is gain and to live is Christ(Philippians 1:21).

Nicole and I go through this cycle all the time and I bet most other Christians. We struggle on our relationship and walk on the Lord because we lack the discipline to build our life around Him. We are trying to build Him around our life when He is supposed to be the center of our very being, our essence.

Nicole texted me this awhile back after not being able to meet for at least 3 weeks: We fail at life

And I responded with: Yes, we are failing so bad

Indeed we are because no amount of success and pleasure can measure to being one  with God.  Being contented in Him. Everything that is good comes from Him. Savoring things without His presence and recognition can only feel good at the surface,it doesn’t last. We can’t experience good without Him because all that is good is created by Him.

Apart from Him we are nothing.

Only a life that is live for Him counts, the rest fades away into comparison.

“We are to live for Christ. We are to pursue Him in every areas of it“. I have to remind myself of that every time.

He should be the end to my every need and desire. He should be enough.

It should be  a complete surrender of my life, take up my Cross and follow Him(Mark 8:34).

We do it all for Him not out of obligation but out of love.We love Him because He first loved us(1 John 4:19).

Our responsibility

Posted by: on: November 23, 2009

Where have we been? The last post by me was made last October 12(not counting the worship song I posted yesterday), exactly 43 days where I am incognito and the last post by Nicole was last October 18, exactly 37 days of complete silence. Whatever happened to us writing here every week? We totally let our responsibility slip. Our excuse, you’ve heard this over and over again, “We are so busy we got no time to write something for our Lord and spend some time on our ministry. But guess what? We have time to watch random youtube videos, waste time on FB, study for our tests, hang out with our friends and a lot more. We have a lot of time to spend on other things but we can’t even put aside, even 15 to 30 mins of our time in writing out how our Great God is sustaining us every day.

And consider the following questions and thoughts:

Isn’t it strange how a 100 dollar bill seems like such a large amount when
you donate it to church, but such a small amount when you go shopping?

Isn’t it strange how 2 hours seem so long when you’re at church, and how short they seem when you’re watching a good movie?

Isn’t it strange that you can’t find a word to say when you’re praying, but you have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend?

Isn’t it strange how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Bible, but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a popular novel or the TWILIGHT series?

Isn’t it strange how everyone wants front-row-tickets to concerts or games, but they do whatever is possible to sit at the last row in Church?

Isn’t it strange how we need to know about an event for Church 2-3 weeks before the day so we can include it in our agenda, but we can adjust it for other events at the last minute?

Isn’t it strange how difficult it is to learn a fact about God to share it with others, but how easy it is to learn, understand, extend and repeat gossip?

Isn’t it strange how we believe everything that magazines and newspapers say, but we question the words in the Bible?

Isn’t it strange how everyone wants a place in heaven, but they don’t want to believe, do, or say anything to get there?

Isn’t it funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell.

Isn’t it funny how someone can say “I believe in God” but still follow Satan (who, by the way, also “believes” in God).

Isn’t it funny how you can send a thousand jokes through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Isn’t it funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me.

Why are we so sleepy in church but right when the sermon is over we suddenly wake up?

Why are the churches getting smaller but yet the bars and dance clubs are getting larger?

We try to keep God in church on Sunday morning, maybe Sunday night and, the unlikely event of a midweek service. We do like to have Him around during sickness and, of course, at funerals.

However, we don’t have time or room for Him during work or play. Because that’s the part of our lives we think we can and should handle on our own.

May God forgive us for ever thinking that there is a time or place where HE is not to be FIRST in our life. We should always have time to remember all HE has done for us.

[Not my own writing, unknown source]

As I reflect upon this, I feel ashamed yet grateful of how God has been very patient and forgiving of my short comings.

Think about it…Look at your life. Who or what is the center of it?

Be strong in the LORD

Posted by: on: November 22, 2009

SIDEWALK PROPHETS

The Words I Would Say

Three in the morning,
And I’m still awake,
So I picked up a pen and a page,
And I started writing,
Just what I’d say,
If we were face to face,
I’d tell you just what you mean to me,
I’d tell you these simple truths,

Be strong in the Lord and,
Never give up hope,
You’re going to do great things,
I already know,
God’s got His hand on you so,
Don’t live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don’t forget why you’re here,
Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say,

Last time we spoke,
You said you were hurting,
And I felt your pain in my heart,
I want to tell you,
That I keep on praying,
Love will find you where you are,
I know cause I’ve already been there,
So please hear these simple truths,

From one simple life to another,
I will say,
Come find peace in the Father

Thank God for each day
His love will find a way

We’re Doomed!

Posted by: on: November 16, 2009

We all need a change of heart in order to be saved from “heart failure” and, ultimately, death. We all need to repent. But, here’s the catch. We can’t.

Repentance is a paradox, a contradiction. We can’t repent on our own. Have you tried? It never works. You might be fleeing anger or pride or lust for a while, but then you can’t help but go back to it. Everyone has this problem. Even the Apostle Paul had this problem. In Romans 7, he says “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”

Paul goes on to say that it’s sin living in him. It’s our sinful, fallen, old nature in us that keeps us from turning from sin and turning to God. Something else needs to help us, or we’re doomed!

It’s like The Lord of the Rings. Whether or not you’ve read the book or seen the movie, you probably know that it has a lot of battles and hand-to-hand combat in it. There are elves fighting orcs. There are dwarves fighting trolls. There are talking trees that fight with wizards. There’s a lot of fighting.

One thing I’ve noticed about it is that the good guys are always about to lose, at least three times in the movies, I’ve noticed this. Their forces are outnumbered. They’ve lost all hope. They’re doomed! When all of a sudden, here comes… Gandalf! Or the mountain men! Or the eagles! Someone comes to save the day.

It’s like that with us and repentance. We cannot do it on our own. We’re losing the battle. We need God, not only to save us from death and hell, but also to give us grace to change our rotten hearts.

Our repenting does not save us. True repentance does not give us God’s grace. True repentance is the result of God’s grace. He loved us, bought us, cleansed us, saved us, so that now we, His children, can and will repent.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your doing; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

Repentance is a heart transplant that we can’t do on our own. We need the Doctor—God—to do it in us. Repentance is a u-turn away from where we were headed—our sin; towards where we should go.

Towards the cross.

Towards our King.

Towards Jesus.


Read: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

Kiss It Goodbye

Posted by: on: November 8, 2009

Repentance is turning your heart away from sin and turning your heart to God. Isaiah 55 puts it nicely. In verse 7, it says, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”

In order to repent, we need to forsake the wickedness and the unrighteousness that we used to live and think and breathe. Get rid of that old, sick heart. Not just say that we’re going to get rid of it, but actually get rid of it. The Apostle Paul says “Kill it!” “By the Spirit…put to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13). “Mortify what is earthly in you” (Col. 3:5). Kill it. Crush it. Stick a stake into it. Knock it dead. Kiss it goodbye. That’s repentance.

Also, repentance means to return to God. Let Him give us that new heart. Go back to Him. Return to Him like the prodigal son returned to his father. Surrender to Him like an enemy soldier puts up a white flag and surrenders. God is the good guy. He’s the one who should win and who will win. We’re the rebels. We need to return to Him.

Okay, so now we’ve established what repentance is. Well, who needs to repent? Hitler needs to repent. Osama bin Laden needs to repent. Anthony, who made fun of you in fourth grade, needs to repent. And you need to repent as well!

The first command Jesus gave during His public ministry was “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” (That’s Matthew 4:17.) He preached this to everyone who would listen.

Everyone needs to repent. Jesus said in Luke 5:32, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” He said this when the Pharisees criticized him for hanging out with the wrong crowd. Jesus calls sinners to repent. Of course, all of us are sinners. No one’s righteous. But it’s only those who realize that they are sinners who can repent.

Some people believe repentance is not something Christians need to do. They just need to “believe in Jesus,” have faith in Him, and then they’re done. That is a dangerous idea!

In Matthew 7, Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Jesus is saying that even if you call Him Lord, that doesn’t mean you’re going to Heaven. That doesn’t mean you’re following Christ. The one who is really a Christian is the one who does the will of the Father. If you haven’t changed, if you haven’t turned from your wickedness and lawlessness—if you haven’t repented—then you aren’t a Christian.

Read: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

U-Turns

Posted by: on: November 7, 2009

Have you ever made a u-turn? Perhaps, when you were driving and you realized you were going the wrong way. Or in the supermarket, while you were looking for the Oreos and found you had mysteriously wandered into the frozen foods section. Or maybe you were at a Chinese buffet, and on your way to your seat, you realized you forgot to get a spoon for your egg drop soup, so you turned around to get one.

We make u-turns everyday. We realize we were going the wrong way, and we make up our mind to go the opposite way. We don’t just need to make u-turns in our travels to the salad bar or while we’re driving. We also need to make them in our living.

This is called repentance.

Recently in my life, I’ve been struggling with how repentance fits into the Gospel, how it fits into what Christ has done for me. I’ve heard about it in sermons. It’s all over the New Testament. I’ve read up on it and researched it, and I’ve come to the conclusion that repentance is necessary to follow Christ. What exactly is this repentance I’m talking about?

Type “repentance” in Google and you will find that everyone has their own definition of repentance. Muslims repent to Allah. Roman Catholics confess their sins to the priest. The Mormons preach repentance. The Jews preach repentance. Everyone has their own version of repentance.

Of course, we know that someone’s got it wrong here. But what is the right way to repent? We need to know! Otherwise, we’re heading in the wrong direction. Thankfully, real repentance has been revealed to us in the Bible.

Simply put, Biblical repentance is changing your heart. The Greek word used in the New Testament for repentance is “metanoeo,” which literally means “to have another mind.” An article by Pastor John Piper explains it further: “The second part (noeo) refers to the mind and its thoughts and perceptions and dispositions and purposes. The first part (meta) is a prefix that regularly means movement or change.”

Repentance is a heart transplant. Before you get your heart transplant, you feel sick, you feel sluggish, you feel weak, you can’t breathe. Your old heart is messed up, it’s hurting, it’s dying. You do things that you don’t want to do. You feel like you’re drowning. Your chest gets wracked with pain. You fall over. ———This is not good!

But then, by God’s grace, you get a heart transplant. After that, you have a new heart, and your actions are different. You can walk and run and dance again. You can breathe again. You’re not hurting anymore. Your behavior is different. Your life is different.

In the same way, repentance is not necessarily changing actions or the way you’re living—although that’s a direct result of it. Repentance is changing your mind—changing your beliefs, your feelings, your motives, your will. It’s changing your heart.

Read: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3


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