My journey...

I was reading a forum entry and this person (X) who quoted "You are the Light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden" Matt 5:14. He said that we are to shine for Christ. Which I agree. However, in the context of the forum, they were talking about our weakness and trials. That Christians are human too and have weaknesses. Christians too go through suffering and trials. X did not agree simply in the context of this verse saying that "we are not to show our weakness otherwise people will not see the difference between Christians and non-Christians and will not come into the Kingdom. We are the light in darkness". I think that this sad. Even sadder when I know that this is how many Christians thinks.

We cannot in our own effort be righteous. It is not our righteousness that win people to the kingdom but Christ. This is the reason why people in church are the ones who put on masks. More so than non-Christians. Because of the righteousness "standard" that is expected of them. A false expectation. They have to not show their weakness. Because Christians should live a "victorious" life.

God calls us to be more Christlike. Our righteousness comes as we come closer to Him. We still do have weaknesses. If not, we shall be God. It is ok to show weakness cause then we can show the strength of our God. That we cannot do it but God can. We cannot walk this road of suffering but God can help me. It is in these trials that God is revealed through us. It is in our response to God that people can see Him. That He is real and living and His life is intertwined with ours.

The fruits of the spirit is love, patience, kindness, perseverance, goodness, joy, peace..... but these are the FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. Comes when we behold Him. When allow Him to change us from glory to glory. Not in our own strength trying to be righteous. Even when there is more of Christ and less of us, it is what God can do through us in our human weakness. Our character and response to trials.

Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Not those who wait upon the Lord, all your cares will be gone. Or all your problems will be over. BUT that He shall renew our strength. When we feel we cannot go on anymore, we look to Him and He gives us more strength to go on. Then He helps us to carry on.

If we present a Christian who has no problems in life then how can others even relate to us? We are way high up there and they cannot even reach us. If they do, they will try to put themselves high up cause they think that this is how Christians shall live. Forever in denial. This is called escapism. Not faith.

Recently I read of the story of a lady who has lost her son. He went hiking in a national park and went missing. He was never found. His mother still hopes that he is alive. Which mother would not hope that. But she said "it does not matter being right or wrong (People have said they see visions of him being alive which gave her that hope too). It's capturing God's heart and pursuing relentlessly. To run the ways of His commandments and find Him there". She was thankful that her son has pursued God his whole life. That God is still God and to be praised. That in her suffering God gave her strength. Bad things still do happen to Christians but how do we go through them that matters.

That is the faith that people will see and be drawn to. The God who is real in our life. A God who gives strength. Her faith gives the picture of a great God. Even in her weakness.

I pray that through my life journey with Him, that others will see Christ in me. Not in my own "perfection". But in the trials that I go through, may He be seen. May His strength and character be seen. May I never loose sight of Him. Especially when the going gets tough.

Have been looking through the web photographs which people have taken. Some of which are stunning. To a browser, the photo may be stunning in terms of the lighting, the sharpness, the composition or the quality and the uniqueness of the photo. Whatever the story we tell of that photo would seem to be a guessing game.






Only the photographer knows the actual story behind each photo. Why he or she decide to take the photo. Where was she at that time. What happened before or after. What did she see in that photo. Only the photographer could tell that story.

Such is life. We may observe each person from their outward appearance but only God knows our heart. Only God knows the story in each person's life. Only God knows the complete picture.

Saw this poster and I wondered how many actually understand what it means to live for Him. How much sacrifice they have to make. It has become such an "in" phrase. To live for Him. Something that we say without even thinking twice. Word is cheap. But do we really understand what we are saying? For that matter, how many really understand the meaning of Him dying for us. To what extent He has to go through. The sacrifice that He has to make. Becoming from God to man... He was 100% man on earth ... NOT 50% God and 50% man... then to the cross to be humiliated. Do we really understand? He not only died for me but also He lived on earth for me.

For sometime now, I have been wondering about prayer. I know we are to pray as Christians but I cannot seem to get away from the legalistic idea of prayer. There is even a song which says "Everytime we pray, we move the hand of God." Do we? Or are we given the privilege to participate in what He is doing? So if we do not pray then God will not act? It is like to me a picture of God waiting for us to give him permission to do something. Who then is God?

Prayer seem to be something that is forced upon us to do and it is almost mechanical in the way we do it. At least to me. So as I embark on this journey of discovering again about prayer, I stumbled upon a quote. "Prayer is a miracle".

Why is prayer a miracle? Because when we pray, it is not just words that we utter. It is not just going through a list of what we want. It is not just communicating with God but it is expecting our prayers to be answered. Probably not in a way that we would expect it to be answered. But as we pray, we expect that God is listening and that He WILL answer. That is our miracle. Something that the human ability cannot do. Not that we move God's hands but we leave it to Him.

When we pray we are agreeing with God what He is already doing. We are claiming His promises. Things that He already has promised us, we take hold of it and see it come to pass. That is a miracle. He promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us. And He will not. So when we pray "God please do not leave us." We take hold of that promise. He promise healing. Though we may not always see it happening. But He is still a God who heals. That is a fact and we are taking hold of that fact. Praying and believing it into pass. When we pray, we expect something to happen and that is God's miracle.

We can never understand why some prayers will be answered yet so many are left unanswered. Someone told me it is because of our faith. We do not have faith enough that is why God did not answer. Then are we saying that God is dependent on us to act? When Jesus performed his miracles, I wonder how much faith each person receiving the miracles had. Of course people argue that it says in the bible that Jesus could not perform many miracles in his own town because of their lack of faith. But there were also miracles which He perform where the people do not know who He was. So prayer is a miracle. We may not know but we trust that whatever the outcome, God is in control and that when we pray, His will gets done. God's ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than ours.

I am still on this journey to understand more about prayer. Still open for Him to teach me.