Thoughts about Grace…

Its been a while since I’ve written.. i know… Just moved back to Toronto and I was half expecting to start everything all over again… in terms to my relationships with the friends I had here… and the family I have here..

But… it’s like I was never really away… picked up where I left off.. not in all things, of course,… but for the most part..

And trust me… its God. It just shows me God’s grace. How He’s always there- willing to take us back even though we’ve messed up; ruined our lives; broken His heart….

Even with my family… only very few people know my full actual story… and its amazing the love that they’ve shown and the understanding…

God’s the same way… He understands what you’re going through.. He feels what you feel. He’s been there.

What’s even more amazing is that God still gives me opportunities to me to pick up my life where it left off…. He granted me admission in the college of my choice…

There is no one out there that can tell me that God doesn’t exist after what I’ve been through and after all that I’ve seen Him do.

He’s real folks! More real than the air you breathe… and He’s calling out to you… His arms stretched out wide…. just asking you to take a look- notice Him- see what He’s done for you because he loves you.. to give Him a chance…

I found this amazing video- it’s been a while since I watched it… and I think you should watch it too… its just six minutes out of your daily life.. please give just six minutes of your time and watch this…. it will touch you if you let it… don’t watch it with a closed heart and mind… please… just listen and take the words in….. Let His words touch your heart.. I pray that it does…

Thoughts on Others

Wow, It’s been quite a weekend. It’s been really busy cooking at the restaurant- especially it being the valentine’s weekend and the restaurant just opening up from a two week holiday. And on top of that, I just got news that another family member just passed away- thats 5 deaths in the past 3-4 months. It’s saddening. Sometimes you don’t even know what to say or think anymore. Even more saddening is that most of them weren’t believers (at least we didnt know for sure) and I wouldn’t like to think of where they are right now.

Funny that at church we were talking about meeting the needs of others. Pastor Bill talked about the Good Samaritan and a lot of other things as well. The main theme was about helping and meeting the needs of the oppressed and the needy. There are millions of people with a genuine need in this world. A majority of the people in North America are ignorant to the fact that every 5 seconds a lot of babies die of starvations and malnutrition. I wish I remembered the statistics, but it was way too much. The worse part is that some, if not most, of these people don’t know Christ and will face eternity without Him. Why? Because we didn’t chose to love them and care for them like we are commanded to. We are too comfortable in our private lives. We build fences around our lives, and make sure that we don’t cross it otherwise it becomes too much of an inconvenience to us. I mean, we’d rather get that boat, or that tv, or the video game that we so want, but we will neglect the needs of others as they are dying. Why is the world so? I’m preaching to myself too. I’m guilty of this as well. But, what am I going to do about it now that I realize what I need to do? What are you going to do knowing that there are millions dying while you lie comfortably in your bedroom with your luxuries all around you. We feed our wants by denying others their needs.

Don’t tell yourself, “Well, they’re not doing anything to help themselves out. They’re not trying to get a job or work or make things better for themselves”! How many of these people would be able to get a “real” job?!!! How many of these people do you think will be give the opportunity like you and I?!!! They live in already food stricken and poor lands! Hunger is not just a one or two day thing for them- it’s a lifestyle! That’s sad! They can’t help it! Imagine if it was your son, or daughter, or father, or mother, or girlfriend, or boyfriend, or someone that you cared about? I bet you would go out of your way to do anything for them. They why not these people? Can’t you see the needy faces of those precious little children?! Aren’t you moved with compassion??!!! Are our hearts so cold?!!

You know, something really true that Pastor Bill said today is that you can look at helping people two ways : proclaiming the Word of God, and acting to help the needy. Which is the right answer? Well, both are. You need a balance. Sometimes, you just help. Just like the good Samaritan. He just helped the guy on the road. He didn’t preach to him. And then there are times when you proclaim His word.

Life isn’t about you. This seems to be coming up a lot in my blogs. Life is about others. Always about others. It’s more meaningful and fulfilling when you live life for someone else and know that with God’s help you’ve made a difference. Why don’t we, then?

Don’t live in ignorance while someone else is out there….

Dying….

Because no one cared…

it’s a choice we have to make… If we really want something, we’ll find a way to do it or achieve it.

you have to want to do this…

you have to want to care…

Thoughts on Surrender

Surrender-to yield (something) to the possession or power of another; deliver up possession of on demand or under duress( http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=surrender )

Hah! I guess anyone who reads that wouldn’t be too thrilled with surrendering. I mean why give up your life and control to someone else? I mean, for crying out loud, I don’t even know if God exists… like I can’t see Him, or hear Him… It’s just foolishness to give up everything of yours to some un-seen being…

Ever tried it though? yeah, I mean, ever dont that? ever give full control and give up everything to God- the same God who gave up everything for you… He, the King of all Creation, gave up everything to come to this earth as a man to die for you- a cruel, cruel death- just so that you can live and be with Him forever in Heaven so He could spend eternity with you.

All He asks is that you trust Him with your life and accept His gift to you. I mean, He’s God and he knows the past, the present, and the future.. why wouldn’t you want to trust someone who can see down your future so that He can show you what path to take and what to do so that your life will be fruitful? He loves you so much, that’s why He’s asking you and not forcing His will on you… He gave us a choice because of love; we’re not robots. We have a free will…

People think that it’s weak to surrender… that you lose once you surrender… That’s not true in this case… coz even in surrender you have freedom- that’s the wonder of Christ. You ask how’s that possible; it’s like this: your friend knows something that you don’t but he asks you to trust him so that you can make the right choices… and you do coz he’s your friend and you know your friend loves you and wouldnt do anything to hurt you. So you have a peace about it in the situation. it’s kinda like that. There’s freedom in that peace… freedom to do what you want in the boundaries of doing the right thing and trusting God with your life. It’s hard to explain till you experience it for yourself.. till you see and taste that peace that He offers to you.

Living a life of surrender is not easy though. You need to give up your will to God to have His will become yours… because in the end.. this life is not about ourselves… it’s for God first, and then others….

For God because of the fact that He gave up everything for you and died for you, so the least we can do is live for him and do what he has for our lives… 

For others because that’s what this life is about…. others… you wonder why you don’t feel fulfilled in life- well maybe because of the fact that the only person you’re thinking about is yourself… start thinking about others and living for other people and you will notice the amount of satisfaction and sense of purpose that you’ll have in your life….

But you can only do this when you surrender your life to Christ, the One Who loves you and died for you so that you may live because when He rose from the grave he defeated sin so that we don’t have to be slaves to sin anymore… if we trust in Him….

Living a life of surrender is the only way in this life… the only way to know where to go in life.

God is always where He is…. waiting for you… So if you come to where he is, seeking, you will find Him