Messy house

"I am not inviting any guests into my house! It is so messy, not a pleasant view for hosting anyone, nobody is gonna enjoy the visit to a dirty place. Plus, it's gonna ruin my reputation if anyone sees this and tells this around." How many of us ever have this thought before?

Is this, possibly, one of the reasons why some people don't want to have God in their lives? I think some of us do realize that our lifestyles are not pleasant in His sight, and we do not want to change, for whatever reasons...(for example maybe we love the parties but hate cleaning up the rubbish, leave them until it's too much to clean and we don't know where to start anymore)

Surely, when God actually knocks at our doors, we have the choice to make, either to:
1. Ignore Him and keep 'hiding' the mess (as if He wouldn't know! but He knows) or,
2. Answer Him, confessing our mess & let Him have a thorough look on the mess so that He can help us with the cleaning

But here is the thing, when we open the door and invite Him into our house, we've gotta know that we need to be prepared to clean our house so that it will be pleasing for His dwelling! Ouch, that's alot of things to do....

But don't worry, He's not gonna let you do it alone. He will tell you how to do it,  where to start, & provide you with the resources needed to change the broken furnitures, bad sound radio, rusty pots, leaking roof, etc etc, that you know will cause more damage if you leave them be...

It's a real good deal, I tell you, you'd love the outcome: a new, clean, healthy, and peaceful house, who doesn't want it?
So, why don't we stop ignoring Him, start praying for His grace to come into our heart and start the cleaning process to create a pure heart, like how He meant it to be.

Like King David prayed [Psalm 51]

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions."
"Create in me a pure heart, o God, ... & grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."

Vanilla ice cream!

I remember there was a guest speaker coming to FGT to teach in SOTB back in 2010 and he was saying that God is not the kind of dictator who doesn't care about the workers... No, God cares about His servants' interest, even though it might not directly related to the house benefit.

God the Father is loving, like an earthly father who loves & cares for his children. And if the child, who has been behaving well and pleasing to his eyes, asks for some ice cream, will the father refuses him/her? I think he ought to, if the son/daughter has ice cream everyday =p but if it's just once in a while, it will cause no harm, and so why not? He wants his son/daughter to be happy and it's a safe thing to do.

And the preacher went on telling his story of how he desired a huge motorbike, yet he hasn't got the chance to get one because even though he really wants it, he's put his priority based on the benefit to his household and his service to God. He did pray about his desire for a huge motorbike though! Once he had enough money to get a decent one, but he had to let it slips away for something else urgent. But lo & behold, at the end he still got the motorbike, better than the one he planned to get, to his surprise! He was amazed that God would grant his wish, eventhough it's not related to his ministry, and so he was convinced of what a loving King, as told in the bible, whom he serves..

That time I had 3 things in my mind that I really want. Now that i think of them, 1 of them had been granted! I thought it was impossible, but yeah I got it, my choc-mint; I actually came back to Oz! And it's been another journey, through many seasons I stumbled and got up. I'll keep walking and learning, maybe sometimes I'll dance, sometimes I'll crawl, sometimes I'll rest but because of His grace, I will not turn back, I will move forward =D

And the rest of them... God knows that one of the two is a struggle to me, & I am still praying for it, and that is my current desire aside from he Kingdom. When can i have this particular vanilla ice cream? lo & behold!

Deeper Love

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

Rom 12:2

I am sure many of us, Christians, at one point of our walks with God ever asked this question: "How do i know what God wants me to do?" There is no specific technical procedure of getting 'there' but intimacy is the what we'd need to have to unlock that divine understanding.

This is just a sharing of what I've got from ignite and also daily bread devotional that i read at the same night. As the year was nearing to an end, Ps Dave encouraged the young people to seek God, and lay down our burdens before Him, and clean the slate to welcome the new year with joy and hope for the better before the perfection. It's as simply as just come before Him just as you are at cross of Christ, to seek not His 'hands' but His 'face'.

How many of us have been so busy lately that we haven't got time to have quiet time in our rooms and try to listen to His voice speaking to us, to just feel His presence, knowing who He is as He has revealed to us through the holy book; He is almighty yet loving. This time when our mind is renewed by His Words with the help of Holy Spirit's intercession, results in a sense of intimacy with the holy and living God!

When was the last time you were overwhelmed with love and grace?
When was the last time you came to Him and traded your sorrows with joy?
Remember how He had comforted you when you were in distress, when nothing seemed to be right?

You know what, He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He wants you to come back to that sacred place only you and Him when you have your sense of security 'in Christ alone'.
When you have that peace that transcends knowledge and understanding, you'll be able to discern Him speaking to you, His Words become alive in you, and your heart's desire will be stirred up to obey Him out of love.

Jesus Himself did say,"If you love me, keep my commandments."

And I like what Oswald Chambers wrote: If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says..."and if I hesitate, it is because I love someone else I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.”
It is so true. When we obey His commands even though it's the opposite of our flesh desire,or seems ridiculous from this world's point of view, we exercise love and have faith in Him more than we do in ourselves.

This is why it's only make sense that we will be more willing to obey Him when we have intimate relationship with Him and know that He is God. We may have more faith in Him and we will step out of the comfort zone to follow His guidance, knowing that He is with us and He is watching over us. You will treat the pain differently, because you simply do it out of love not obligation. And along the way, you will be transformed, without even realizing that you are in the process. Because that is His ultimate goal of our lives, to be transformed into the image of His son, Jesus Christ, who is also a reflection of God Himself.

=)