Project Wanderlust 2012 : SEOUL / End-Winter;Spring / USA / End-Spring;Summer /

post in a long time

His calling for me is certain. But I don't know exactly where it will be.

God has been calling me close to Him recently, I feel lost when I dont think of him consciously

in every moment of my life. Because He encompasses every part of it. The Holy Spirit dwells within me, I cannot deny Him. I thank God for such assurance. He gave it to me with His liberty not because I earned it or seeked Him, I have done nothing worthy of that or anything people say

Christians should do to be near Him, He drew Himself to me, in my heart through personal convictions and through the stories of others' lives; their testimony and lives attest to Jesus being truly their real and living Saviour changing their lives bit by bit as they allow Him to wholly giving up all their selfish desires for His perfect will.

It's pass the point I say even if feel like im not living and in an eternal sleep a lucid dream, I will still love God and believe in Him, even if i'm going insane I will still believe in God who never changes, who cares about my ever changing and faliable mind and body, His Spirit never changes, and i holdfast to that He will hold unto me for eternity. I never felt so joyful to look forward to the day i finally see Him face to face, but I'll admit I have much to be ashamed about in my life so far.

I guess this calls for a life change, i mean slowly so that they will become habits and stick. not one off actions I feel motivated to do at that moment, but changing my character; to be more like Christ. Thinking of others, being sacrificial to our belongings and letting go of things when the time calls for giving. I thank God for working in me. I feel that without Jesus Christ, I am lost and nothing, but in Him I am powerful and a child of God. :) PRAISE GOD! ;D

Cheepistle - Now that you've become a Christian, continued...‏

In my last cheepistle, I noted that there are no short cuts or easy steps towards growing as a Christian. It is a journey.

But we can be helped along by signposts to guide us on the way. This is the purpose for the ensuing series of cheepistles, where I will be discussing six key elements of the Christian life. You may notice that these elements correspond to the six statements that define the vision for our youth ministry.

The first element is that the Christian life is about enjoying a personal vibrant relationship with God.

This is not the key to spiritual growth or spiritual life. This IS spiritual growth and this IS spiritual life (John 17:3).

The Christian faith may not be reduced to a religion. It is a relationship. We are called not to cling to a set of doctrinal propositions, but a person. To be sure, religious practices (such as sacraments, membership with a community, conformity to an ethical code, even evangelism and church building!) and doctrine (i.e. a well-conceived and comprehensive biblical theology) are very important, but if we kept ourselves to just those, we would have sorely missed the central purpose of the Christian life. We would have been like a professor of philosophy and human relationships who had spent years researching and teaching about love, but who’s never been married and had never properly loved a person in his life! Devotion and doctrine must go together.

We must be careful not to major on the minors, even when the minors can seem very important. Remember what Jesus said to the Ephesian church (Revelation 2) – they had a reputation for accomplishing many good works and for standing up for sound doctrine – but they had lost their first love! And for that, they were in serious danger of losing their place as a church. Their rebuke came from no one else but Jesus their Lord.

See also Mark 3:14, where the evangelist tells us the key reasons why Jesus called His disciples – FIRST, that they might be with Him [Fellowship]; then second, that He might send them out [Mission].

God desires a personal relationship with each of us.

This means that your relationship with God is ultimately not meant to be mediated by anyone else (other than Jesus Himself). Someone may have led you to Christ (or more precisely, been led by the Spirit to facilitate your coming to Christ). Someone may have taught you and raised you up in the teachings of Christ. Others may have preached to you when you had backslidden, or had inspired you by their personal example of walking closely with God.

But at the end of the day, God calls you to a personal walk with Him. He knows you by name, He calls you by name. He wants you to know Him on a personal, intimate level. No child of God is ever called to stand and admire God from a distance [If that was the best that the Israelites at Sinai could do, it certainly is not what’s offered to us!].

I want to tell you that that is the greatest blessing and joy that anyone can ever have – God offers Himself to us. But the choice is yours whether you want to leave Him standing at the door, or supping with you at the table (incidentally, Revelation 3:21 concludes this metaphor with Jesus granting the church the possibility of sitting with Him on His throne!).

God doesn’t just want a personal relationship with you. He desires a vibrant relationship with you. It should be marked by the fullness of God’s life in us. With God, life cannot be permitted to be viewed with dreariness and boredom anymore. Everything can be tinged with meaning and purpose, and enjoyed to its fullest. Why do so many people nowadays find their jobs drab, and their studies pointless? How did we end up stuck in a rut, and shooting aimlessly, whiling away our hours and days? It boils down to a lack of purpose, a confused identity, and the conundrum of unresolved sin resulting in brokenness. God has purposed to take all these away. When you go deep in your relationship with Him, you will discover that He has made you for a purpose, that you have a unique and colorful identity (in Him), and you have the hope of forgiveness and freedom from sin. Most of all, you will find a God who loves you with an everlasting love, and who delights over His children. Anyone who says that his life became boring ever since he became a Christian has simply not yet experienced the fullness of life in Christ. Would that that is not the case for every believer!

At the same time, I cannot leave you thinking that cultivating a personal vibrant relationship with God will be nice and thrilling all the time. It may even be hardly so most of the time. I say this not because life is hard. But when one desires to draw near to God, he will find himself walking down the challenging road of stepping into the light of self-judgment. God will not suffer you to draw near to Him while choosing to remain in sin and darkness – these are totally at odds for holiness and un-holiness cannot abide together.

It is like courtship. We usually begin thinking that we are out in search of “the one”. We think that once we have found the person who fulfills our essential criteria of a good match, the relationship will be well. Then we discover that once you get into the relationship, the burden is on you to be “the one” for that other person as well! This is because the chief criterion is not something that you possess once for all time, it is dynamic and it requires a daily commitment for fulfillment. That criterion is love.

When you approach God, you will quickly feel the utter inadequacy of your love and the grossness of your own sin. And yet freedom from these requires you to face up to that fact.

Can you be courageous enough to be honest about that?

But wait. There is more.

Pursuing God may involve seasons when God seems absent. Even the most ardent believers have had periods of wrestling with doubt and wallowing in sorrow. Life is hard. Yet, it is precisely during these moments when we come to grips with what is really in our heart: Have I been desiring the gifts and blessings, or God Himself? Even when there are dark clouds, will I still seek God? Will I cling to Him? He has promised never to leave you nor forsake you. He has promised Himself.

Oh dear friend – put your faith in God. Seek His face ever more!

ZW's Article

NOW THAT YOU'VE BECOME A CHRISTIAN

First, let me give you a big hug and say "Congratulations!!!!" It is a great day for rejoicing, and I am so HAPPY for you. There's even greater rejoicing in heaven by none other than God Himself, in the presence of all His angels (I really wonder how they would react to see God like that!).

The day you became a Christian may seem like a small matter to you, but it is no small matter in the eyes of God, who has recovered a child who once was lost but now is found. It is no small matter to everyone who has prayed for you, even without your knowing. It is no small matter to everyone else who played a part in pointing you to Christ. And it is no small matter to every fellow believer who has walked that same road, made that same decision, and knows what it meant for themselves.

What lies ahead for you now?

I want to share with you a few things, as a fellow traveller (mind you, no tourists here! Only pilgrims).

Yes, you've begun on a journey that is wrapped up in God's amazing story of working in this world. He had made everything good from the beginning. But our first parents sinned, and we all participated in the self-destructing habit of saying "yes" to sin and "no" to God. Then came Jesus, who showed us that God loves us still, and offers us reconciliation and redemption. In the larger story, God is working to restore all of creation in His Son, and He will accomplish that completely one day when He returns - and set things right.

You are a part of that story now. And there is a Day when you will meet your God and your Saviour face to face. For the rest of your life, know that you are part of that story and that there is this Day to look forward to. How will you live in the light of that hope?


Do you remember what it was like when you had made that decision to trust in Jesus? Did you find yourself drenched with joy as you finally faced up to the horror of your own sin and rejection of God, and realised that He loves you still in His Son?
That is only a taste of all that God has in store for you. For the rest of your life, you may reflect and wonder at the glorious love and majesty of our God, and all that He has done for you. It is as if you had been courted by God. He wasn't just looking for a date. He was looking to enter into a relationship for life. Don't you know that you are now engaged to Him? That final Day is really the day of your Marriage.


You may, and it greatly blesses you, to begin right now the journey of getting to know the One you'll get to spend the rest of eternity with. Don't be afraid by that prospect, or think that that would be a dreariness. Your feelings are merely the feelings of one who had been used to thinking like the world, and as a someone held in sin's bondage. But Jesus came to set you free. As you get to know Him better, I assure you that He will turn out to be far better, far more just, and far more loving than you had imagined. A theologian once uttered these simply profound words, "God is beautiful." Oh yes! He really is.... and my heart's desire is that you will come to know Him more and more.


Towards that end, there are some things that you can do.

First, you must resolve day after day to say NO to sin. Sin is simply saying "no" to God, and it marrs your vision of Him, and your feelings towards Him. You must remember that sin once held you in bondage. Now that you had escaped its grasp, it will try again and again to hold you as much as it can in bondage. If it can't snatch you out of Christs' hand, it will try to put a basket over you so that no one can tell that you are Christs'. And it will endeavor by all means to kill your affection for God.
Remember that sin, its essence, is not behaviour. It's about your posture towards God. In the presence of God, the only proper response is to bow in reverence and in obedience. Think not that that is undignified. Real dignity comes from God saying to you, "Well done! Good and faithful servant."
Remember Whose you are.

Second, it is time to grow spiritually. People wished they could re-live their childhood. Spiritually - that is possible! You are born again. Spiritual truths and spiritual experiences will be fresh... as you would have never had them before (even if you'd been attending church for years; when Christ comes into your life, New Creation!). You may have the same thrill of discovery as a child who handles a new toy or plays with a dog for the first time.
But remember that you start off only as a child... there's much growing to do, and you should eventually get weaned off milk to eat solid food. Dig into God's word - it is laden with treasure. It is a love letter written to you by God. Soak in the words, let your mind feast on them day after day, allowing them to point you not to some abstract deeper truth, but to a greater knowledge of Him. Let God's word purge your mind and heart of the corruption that sin had caused, so that you may behold Him more fully and more clearly.

There are no short-cuts for spiritual growth; No five easy steps or seven simple strategies.
When you were saved, God delivered you from the penalty (or the effects) of sin. But now that you are saved, you are set on a journey of being delivered from the power of sin. God's agenda for your life did not stop at you believing in Jesus' name and getting a "ticket to heaven". If you will let Him, He wants to deal with every lingering aspect of sin and its history of abusing your life. It will be hard and it will be painful - you may even find yourself grasping to remnants of your old ways, however foolish that may seem now - but know that God means for nothing but your good, and you will be changed from glory to glory. God has already given us a glimpse of how the story will end, and it will end well for all who are His. Take comfort in that.

I said earlier that there are no short-cuts for spiritual growth. However, there are resources available for you. You are responsible for your own spiritual growth, but you are never called to walk the journey alone. Don't let the sin of pride tell you that you need nobody.
I urge you to get yourself into good company.
Choose godly friends, and talk with them about spiritual matters - sin entices us to write such things off as being "holy and showy", but be humble and yet determined to bring spirituality, a God-centered spirituality, into every aspect of your life. Those who engage well in such activity know that it is a matter of life.
Pray and be on the look out for people spiritually more mature than yourself, who are willing to teach you. Be willing to learn.
Get plugged into a community of fellow believers. God has designed His church to be diverse, so that everyone may help everyone else in unique ways to grow spiritually. Embrace this truth, and be patient with all, knowing that God wants to deal with everyone's sin as much as He wants to deal with yours. Be part of a three-fold cord that will not be easily broken.

Finally, the greatest resource that God provides is Himself. He has committed Himself to you. He has promised that He will never leave you nor forsake you; and His Spirit that dwells in you is that same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. He has dynamic power to work in your life!

Once again, congratulations! Since biblical times, the often-used compliment is "Blessed are you!" Indeed, you are so blessed to belong to Jesus.
And I am so blessed to have you as a fellow traveller.

Until that Day! Even so, come Lord Jesus!

the candle who had no faith.

illustrations by me. copyrights
basically, im just being uttertly afraid to shine.

i like my comfortable space under the bed. i mean,
why would i wanna risk getting blown out?
i don't want that to happen again, oh no, that'll be beyond unimaginably hard.

so i'll just stay here until i melt in my own safe puddle of laziness and apprehension.

Skies :)

Thank God for the beautiful skies to remind me to think of heaven's higher joys instead of earth's deep sorrows.

taken His mercies forgrantted.

its so encouraging to see fellow christians, beloved brothers and sisters in Christ posting lovely things on the facebook and flooding my feed with encouraging, thoughtful and righteousness.

From God's word and verses to edifying christian articles. A glimpse of what is possible if we make the effort to make everything of our lives for God. Im guilty of so much this week, Its already thursday and i did not do anything really that i needed to finish. my project lift hanging and such procrastination to what i can sufficiently finish ages ago.
Do i get enough motivation for the next day? I should.
Lam 3:23-24 says that the love of the Lord is renewed daily! Great is His faithfulness to provide all that i need for the next day, not to worry about how tomorrow will turn out. I must take every effort and stand on the promise that He will be with me every step of today's troubles and work.
That i can do my best with His strength to glorify Him in every aspect. thought and deed.

Lord, may i not live like how Youve forbidden to take mercy forgrantted to do as i like. to sin cause i know for you sure Youll forgive. what a bad habit. Ill do it tomorrow i say, but why waste God's mercy He has planned and given especially for me for today's toiling?
I have much to accomplish in His name.