Saturday, December 26, 2009
Truth does not change lives. It’s Truth APPLIED that changes lives.
here's my reflections based on today's sermon (refering to christmas service, 25th dec).. hmm.. e summary of e sermons is 2 posts down.. hmm.. i rather u guys read tis srsly, than my normal random crapping.. hope tis reflection of mine is able to bless u readers in some ways too.. it's long, i noe.. n i may b naggy.. but.. jus spend some tym reading it..
Oh, how often we humans cannot keep still! Haha.. isn’t this true? Well, ask someone to sit at a place for 5 minutes, don’t do anything, don’t move and just sit there, soon you will see him fidgeting in his seat. Well, I cannot keep still too. Ask me to give a 2 hours tuition, I’ll start moving around, losing attention after like say an hour or less. We have short attention span, don’t we? This is keeping still in one sense. There’s still something else that we have problem keeping still. That’s with regards to our lives! Well, most won’t just sit and do nothing about their lives. We set goals to achieve, set expectations for ourselves, and we want the best in lives. So when we face problems and troubles, all the more we won’t sit still! We will get all frantic, running here and there, trying this method and that, trying all means to solve the problems! Well, you may say that’s human instinct. Afterall, who when seeing their house on fire, won’t run everywhere to get water to put out the fire? But sometimes, what God wants us to do and require us to do is just so opposite from what our human instinct tells us to. Instead of asking you to run everywhere to get water to put out the fire, God is actually saying ‘Hey you! Stop there! Stop running around like an aimless guy, hoping to bump into some water somewhere. I AM the source of water that you need to put out this fire and I AM right here! Stop looking elsewhere!’ Indeed, the real solution is right here with us! How often we miss that. We are called to BE STILL and know that I (HE) am (is) God. (Psalm 46:10) All we need to do is be still and let God do what He always do – being God.
But this is hard! I know. To fight against the instinct to attempt to save ourselves out of some mess.. but we are not always capable of doing that. Many a times, life spins out of control. We have totally no control to how things will turn out in the end, how people will react to it and what people think. No doubt we can anazlyse the problems, come out with some solutions, some of which we think are very good and will definitely work. But.. there are still times when all efforts were useless and we are left helpless. Totally helpless and clueless of what to do! Why is it that we only turn to God when we have problems that we cant solve? And for those that we can, those small or so we thought problems, we try to handle it ourselves? Is it pride in the way? Pride telling us that we can do it on our own. Such a small stuff, I can handle it, don’t need to get God’s help. Or is it an illusion of control that we have. An illusion that tries to tell us that we can control things. We can make our own decisions and save ourselves from the mess. I can do it without God. Oh, how wrong we can get! How we need a humble posture in our life. To humbly come before God and saying ‘God, I can’t do it. Things are just not within my control. But I know they are within Yours. God, I want to let go of trying to control my life and let You control it. Because only You can control everything that is happening in my life. Nothing spins out of control in You.’ How we need to recognize this! But applying it is another issue!
Letting go have never been easy. Someone told me before, to let go and let God. To let go of things that we hold so strongly and firmly to and let God take over from there, take charge. It’s just like a small kid. If she is holding on to her favourite toy, it may be hard to try to convince her to put it down at times. Well, we do hold many things so tightly and refuse to loosen our grip, even a single bit! We hold on to our past hurts, our anxieties, our reputations, our grades, our job, our loved ones, our possessions and so many more! Aren’t our hands so full with stuff and our heart weary from being tied down by so many stuffs! Especially how we have to fight with that fear of losing all we so tightly hold on to! I know how it feels, cause I am one who finds it extremely hard to let go. But here, we are not just asked to let go, forget things and totally put down. But we are asked to bring them to Jesus. To let Him take charge from here. We don’t have to worry about them anymore. We just leave them to God and sees what God do about them. He may take away someone important in our lives, He may make us lose something that we treasured a lot, but things are not out of His control. We just need to press on in this road, trusting that He has our best interests at heart. Trusting that He knows what He is doing. Sometimes we thought we know what we are doing and think that that’s the way to do it and when God do things another way, we question ‘God, do You know what You are doing? Things shouldn’t be this way!’ Hmm.. may I question, who’s God? Who can see the bigger picture? Who knows what is really the best?
Well, I can talk and write a lot. But am I doing it? I can only say that I am still learning. There are many things in life that I worry about. Especially my grades being unable to meet the expectations of my boss. There are still hurts that I hold on to. Sometimes, it’s not those who hurt us that continues to hurt us, but we ourselves. How we often open that wound ourselves and pour salt on it. Sounds stupid? But this is what we do sometimes. Or maybe I, not we. Why is it so hard to let go? Sometimes it’s the sense of insecurity, we feel more secured holding on tightly to the things we treasured and our possessions. Sometimes we just cannot get over those hurts and let those painful memories taunt us. We allow ourselves to dwell in those memories, in those thoughts, in those hurtful words said and deeds done. Sometimes, our guilty conscience just won’t leave us alone. But all these, we can surrender to God. He is the true source of our sense of security. Things on earth change, possessions get lost and we don’t bring them with us when we die. The only unchanging is God. Shouldn’t we all the more surrender our hurts and pain to God? Cause He understands it all and He is the only One who can heal us of our wounds with His love and comfort us with His loving Hands. Oh, how we can run into the embrace of our God, our heavenly Father. Guilty conscience are sometimes satan’s way of using shame to hinder us from returning to God. For God is faithful and is willing to forgive us whenever we are willing to repent of our sins. He cancels all the mistakes that we made. Isnt this just so nice? We no longer have to carry that black mark with us into eternity. In God’s book, it’s all white and clean again. Well, I am trying to surrender things of my life into His Hands. Empty my hands and put all these down at the Cross. It’s very hard and may be a long process for me. But this is something that I am determined to work on in 2010. Letting God take control of my life. Admitting that I cant do much for I am limited, but I have an Almighty God who never fails.
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
Wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
Wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
Our God, You reign forever
Our Hope, our strong Deliverer
You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint, You won't grow weary
You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles
You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
The everlasting God
The everlasting God
Whatever that is hindering me from letting go and letting God, I want to bring them to God and seek God’s help to remove these hindrance. Lord, I really need You in my life.
There’s a higher purpose for our lives. It aint just living day by day, going through the mundane and one day, reaching the end of our lives and that’s it. The higher purpose for our lives is God’s purpose for us! He created us to have a close relationship with Him. A love relationship. He doesn’t just create us so that we toil our lives slogging after good grades, having great achievements, earning loads of money. That just misses the whole picture! God’s agenda and purpose for us is one that lasts for eternal. Well, we may be placed in different parts of the world, doing different jobs to witness for God to those around us. To leave an impact on those that past our lives. But God also want to save the world! He wants us to spread Him to those around us so that they can know Him and be saved and experience that love relationship with Him too. How we often fret over the things of life, some very small things. Some we consider big, like money issues. But is that really big? I mean isn’t ensuring that we live a purpose-driven life, a life that we have been created for, more important? Yes, no doubt we still need to give our best for what we do, but don’t miss what really is important – your relationship with God. All we need to do is trust in the Lord and be faithful to Him and He has promised that first seek the kingdom of God and all these will be added to you. Doesn’t God knows our needs better than us? Doesn’t He knows what we need? He will provide them, so don’t worry about them! First seek the kingdom of God! Do we really need those things that we think we need? Well, we are actually humans with simple needs. We just need air to breathe, water to drink and food to eat. God definitely provided us with enough oxygen, water and food! But we keep thinking that we need that luxury meal at that so-and-so restaurant. That branded bag from where and where. That nice and expensive clothes. When we are already well-clothed. Aren’t our basic needs met? But how unsatisfied we humans are! We can be easily satisfied if we choose to give thanks for everything that we have. Don’t compare with others what we don’t have. Give a child a new pen, don’t have to be an expensive one, and he will be happy. What about us? We are actually humans with simple needs. But we have too many complicated wants.
Lord, help me to walk my talk. Help me to stay faithful to You to the end. Help me to focus on what really is important and not waste my time fretting over the small little things that aint really important at the end of the day. Help me not lose sight of what really matters. Lord, help me to surrender the lordship of my life into Your hands and not be the ruler of my own life. For You have come and bought my life with a high price. My life no longer belongs to me but to You, Lord. Lord, the flesh is weak. Thank You Lord for being faithful and for being here for me always.
It’s the first time that I stood up in response to the speaker’s invitation. This comes after being in this church for 6 months. Many times, I will want to stand up, but something will be hindering me. Perhaps the impression that others may have of me? Perhaps cause people around me aint standing, so I don’t dare to. But this is something between me and God, not me and the so-and-so that may be sitting next to me. It’s my personal response to God. Why should I care how others view me for that? Today, during the response, I felt the tug inside me to stand up. I know clearly that God has spoken to me. He has moved my heart and He has spoken to my heart. There’s just a tugging in my heart and I know I cannot ignore that. How I want to let go and let God. How I want to let God take charge of my life. And how I want to live with His purpose in my life! Yup. 2009 may be a mess, many ups and downs, many tears, but 2010 can start on a different note! History doesn’t have to repeat itself, I don’t have to be stuck this way forever. A year is long enough. It’s time to move on. I have the choice. I can torture myself thus causing 2010 to start on the same note as 2009 or I can just learn to let go and let God through prayers. How I want 2010 to be a closer walk with God, for things to be different, where I can recover back the joy, peace and love that I have in God. And that God’s blessings can overflow in my life that I can bless those around me too. That close walk with God will be so sweet that it is worth giving up many things for! That is something that I won’t give in exchange for! Lord, help me walk closer to You, fix my eyes on You and take charge of my life.
Labels: sermon reflections, songs: You are the everlasting God
