I love Lisa Mcinnes-Smith, she is so fresh and energetic <3<3
She came to crowded house at Bridge and was really encouraging.. Here's some things i got from her, put into an analogy:
We look at bananas tree at the other country bearing so many fruits and we tried the fruits, it's so good~~~ Well, in our countries we do have apple trees and it grew very well, but we are so used to it, it becomes too common, and we prefer bananas! and we think, "I don't want to grow apples, i want bananas! Why doesn't it grow in our countries? Let's buy the seeds and plant it on our land."
So we go home to our countries, and sow the banana seeds on the land, near the apple tree on our garden. We are so eager to see the fruit bear fruits that we bought fertilizers and give it all to the banana seeds and forget about our apple tree. After years pass, the banana tree doesn't look that healthy and yet to bear much fruit like the one we see on the other land and the taste is not as good either, tho we have taken care of it very well throughout the years, giving it the best fertilizers regularly. WHY? Do you know why?
Because the conditions of the land and climate is not the same at our place with theirs. And because we concentrated so much on the banana tree, we forget about what we already have, that is the apple tree, and even that tree now doesn't bear as much fruit as before seen we neglected it. If we continue doing it, we might lose the good apple tree and have the not so good banana tree. Why not just bear good apples instead and trade it with the good bananas from the other countries?
It's the same with our talents! You see, many times we look at a person: she is awesome with guitar, such a great sound she made, i want to be good playing guitar too! So I switch from piano, which i have been practicing since i was young and i am really good in it; to guitar, spend so much time and energy to learn guitar and yes I can play guitar but not as good as her. Why? She's got a special talent. And my piano skill becomes worse since i don't practice it anymore. That's such a waste, isn't it? Why not come back to piano and play it with her and combine together for a great music??
Can you think of the moments in your life when you experience something similar?
Be a great person! Unleash the potential WITHIN you, not what you see in others that you think is good and you want to have too =)
To be a little blessing::
Just a bright smile can brighten you day! at least that's the case with me =]
+ look at them at their eyes! It gives them comfort and they know that they are given full attention.
What's is the most rewarding investment you can think of?
For me, it's investing into people's lives, I want to sow into something that will last, and what is that? Soul and Spirit!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Sabbath in Christ
Is Sabbath to be observed or not? That's the first argument we'd have with the adventists. In case you meet one, you might want to know these that you could share with them. I wished i knew it when he asked me the question.
I had been so amazed how the adventist christians strive to keep the Saturday so Holy, and wondered if it was true that we should not change the day of the Lord just like that.
It is true that it is one of the 10 commandments and God told His people to observe it forever, but then, does it really matter after what Jesus has done at the cross, to keep observing the Sabbath? Since we are not living under the laws anymore.
I know lots of us just take it for granted that we don't have to observe it anymore, because we live in the new testament time, and Jesus Himself healed on Sabbath day, which is unlawful, and He said, "... the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” [Mat 12:8]. I thought He was just saying that He is higher than the laws, but apparently there is more to it!!
Why do i even take it so seriously? Because it happened to me that a friend of mine shared to me how he's been blessed by observing the Sabbath. I asked, why do I observe Sabbath? He answered, why not? It's one of the 10 commandments. Just because Jesus has forgiven us, doesn't mean that we are excused to not obey Him whenever it's not convenient to us. o________O||
And yes, i see.... he is very sincere in this matter. I could feel it when he said these lines:
For believers who love God and sincerely want to please Him, you wouldn't want to neglect God's commandments. Jesus said,"Love the Lord with all Your heart, soul, mind, & strength." And He also said," If you love me, you'll obey my commands."
Question is:: what are His commands? Are the commands given in the old days still valid?
NOTE THIS: He said,"I didn't come to destroy the laws but to fulfill it." [Mat 5:17]
I think Jesus didn't break the other commandments, only the Sabbath day, why was that so? Because Sabbath day was a shadow of the things to come, which is the real Rest of God, Christ Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath. [Col 2:16-17].
Tony Warren explained in "The New Testament Sabbath" that we do observe the Sabbath. i.e. rest from work, in Christ. There is no work on the Sabbath because our rest is in Christ, who alone worked that we might enter into the rest of God.You get what i means? It points to the fact that we do nothing but to trust in Christ for salvation. It's all about Jesus.
He mentioned also that if a person wants to live under sabbatical laws, he must be willing to put to death anyone who would break the Sabbath, like how it was required. Not even the most strict seventh day advocate observes such a Sabbath, he claimed.
The only ones observing such a sabbath is one who understands that forever keeping of the Sabbath is in Christ, and the punishment of violating the Sabbath will be judged by God, at the judgement day...
So if you meet sincere believers that is confused of the Sabbath, i hope this will help. Read the article for more details~~ =]
I had been so amazed how the adventist christians strive to keep the Saturday so Holy, and wondered if it was true that we should not change the day of the Lord just like that.
It is true that it is one of the 10 commandments and God told His people to observe it forever, but then, does it really matter after what Jesus has done at the cross, to keep observing the Sabbath? Since we are not living under the laws anymore.
I know lots of us just take it for granted that we don't have to observe it anymore, because we live in the new testament time, and Jesus Himself healed on Sabbath day, which is unlawful, and He said, "... the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” [Mat 12:8]. I thought He was just saying that He is higher than the laws, but apparently there is more to it!!
Why do i even take it so seriously? Because it happened to me that a friend of mine shared to me how he's been blessed by observing the Sabbath. I asked, why do I observe Sabbath? He answered, why not? It's one of the 10 commandments. Just because Jesus has forgiven us, doesn't mean that we are excused to not obey Him whenever it's not convenient to us. o________O||
And yes, i see.... he is very sincere in this matter. I could feel it when he said these lines:
For believers who love God and sincerely want to please Him, you wouldn't want to neglect God's commandments. Jesus said,"Love the Lord with all Your heart, soul, mind, & strength." And He also said," If you love me, you'll obey my commands."
Question is:: what are His commands? Are the commands given in the old days still valid?
NOTE THIS: He said,"I didn't come to destroy the laws but to fulfill it." [Mat 5:17]
I think Jesus didn't break the other commandments, only the Sabbath day, why was that so? Because Sabbath day was a shadow of the things to come, which is the real Rest of God, Christ Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath. [Col 2:16-17].
Tony Warren explained in "The New Testament Sabbath" that we do observe the Sabbath. i.e. rest from work, in Christ. There is no work on the Sabbath because our rest is in Christ, who alone worked that we might enter into the rest of God.You get what i means? It points to the fact that we do nothing but to trust in Christ for salvation. It's all about Jesus.
He mentioned also that if a person wants to live under sabbatical laws, he must be willing to put to death anyone who would break the Sabbath, like how it was required. Not even the most strict seventh day advocate observes such a Sabbath, he claimed.
The only ones observing such a sabbath is one who understands that forever keeping of the Sabbath is in Christ, and the punishment of violating the Sabbath will be judged by God, at the judgement day...
So if you meet sincere believers that is confused of the Sabbath, i hope this will help. Read the article for more details~~ =]
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
'Battle field' Mentality
1 Peter 5:8-9 warns christians that the devil is roaring around looking for his prey. Peter is very straight forward in telling the brothers in faith to be SELF-CONTROL and ALERT of the enemy's scheme. Why does he tell us to do so, as if we were in the battle field? the ugly fact is YES, we are in the battle field.
If you haven't yet realized, Peter addressed God's elect as 'strangers in the world' who is God's elect? Isn't he whom God has redeemed to be His own, who believes in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ? It is you and me! The moment we decided to follow Jesus, we entered a fierce battle field with the devil, but fear not, coz we are on the winning side, by the blood of Christ.
So then, we are all God's warriors in war against satans, and this world, which we are in, is his territory! We are in enemy's territory! That's why Peter warns us to be ALERT and SELF-CONTROL. How do we conquered the enemies in his territory? First of all, we need to remember that we don't belong here; yes we are Christ ambassadors, we belong in Heaven [Phi 3:20]. We need to diligently exercise self-control and awareness because our fleshes were once slaves of the enemy, by means of sins. Our flesh, attached to our body, is the weakest part of us, and hence, the best target of devil to attack. And since we are in his territory, we are exposed to temptations... We have to be able to control our flesh's desire, so we do not to give in to the devil, that's a loser!. To make it clearer, we NEED to control our flesh, not the other way around.
And satans are shrewd enough to tempt where we are the weakest. Therefore, we need to be ALERT of his schemes, even more when it comes to our weaknesses. Know what's happening, don't just go with the flow and don't forget your mission in this world, lest you will fall in no time. (if you do fail, God will pick you up if you know your wrong and turn back to Him, but He wants you to grow stronger¬ keep falling at the same point) How do we do this? Be aware of what's happening around us, and what we want to do and always check if or not it pleases God. Make it simple, does it please God to do this? If not, be careful you might put yourself onto a danger, like a butterfly going onto the spider web, know what i mean? =)
Of course it's not easy to resist the devil because he never plays fair, he'll do whatever it takes to win! It makes sense if he'll attack whenever he sees 90% rate of success, doesn't it? Yes, he's not stupid~~
Peter told us to stand firm in the faith! Remember you're not alone, go to your ACCOUNTABLE brothers to fight together. Keep your eyes upon Christ, the Victory, and pray for one another; and in doing so, you'll shine brighter together. The devil will withdraw because darkness cannot exist together with the light, either one has to fade.
If you haven't yet realized, Peter addressed God's elect as 'strangers in the world' who is God's elect? Isn't he whom God has redeemed to be His own, who believes in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ? It is you and me! The moment we decided to follow Jesus, we entered a fierce battle field with the devil, but fear not, coz we are on the winning side, by the blood of Christ.
So then, we are all God's warriors in war against satans, and this world, which we are in, is his territory! We are in enemy's territory! That's why Peter warns us to be ALERT and SELF-CONTROL. How do we conquered the enemies in his territory? First of all, we need to remember that we don't belong here; yes we are Christ ambassadors, we belong in Heaven [Phi 3:20]. We need to diligently exercise self-control and awareness because our fleshes were once slaves of the enemy, by means of sins. Our flesh, attached to our body, is the weakest part of us, and hence, the best target of devil to attack. And since we are in his territory, we are exposed to temptations... We have to be able to control our flesh's desire, so we do not to give in to the devil, that's a loser!. To make it clearer, we NEED to control our flesh, not the other way around.
And satans are shrewd enough to tempt where we are the weakest. Therefore, we need to be ALERT of his schemes, even more when it comes to our weaknesses. Know what's happening, don't just go with the flow and don't forget your mission in this world, lest you will fall in no time. (if you do fail, God will pick you up if you know your wrong and turn back to Him, but He wants you to grow stronger¬ keep falling at the same point) How do we do this? Be aware of what's happening around us, and what we want to do and always check if or not it pleases God. Make it simple, does it please God to do this? If not, be careful you might put yourself onto a danger, like a butterfly going onto the spider web, know what i mean? =)
Of course it's not easy to resist the devil because he never plays fair, he'll do whatever it takes to win! It makes sense if he'll attack whenever he sees 90% rate of success, doesn't it? Yes, he's not stupid~~
Peter told us to stand firm in the faith! Remember you're not alone, go to your ACCOUNTABLE brothers to fight together. Keep your eyes upon Christ, the Victory, and pray for one another; and in doing so, you'll shine brighter together. The devil will withdraw because darkness cannot exist together with the light, either one has to fade.
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