Refueling

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is what drives us in our walk. This is where I think the beauty of scripture comes out. In order for us to live a life that brings God glory, we have to be filled by God, and it's the overflow of what's in us that allows us to live a life pleasing to God. How many times have we felt like we've been running on empty? Our feeble mind can lead us to think maybe if I start going to church again, maybe if I go on a missions trip, or maybe if I read this Christian book I'll be able to feel God again in my life. Though often times, those things can give us a spurt in our spiritual lives but compared to the well of life found through the Holy Spirit and scripture, those things are just mere cups, maybe bottles of life at best. The source of life where we need to visit frequently in our walks is found only in Christ Himself. How do we know we are being filled by God? Two words: peace and joy.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

Refuel through God and His Word today.

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Biblical Wisdom

Sometimes it's hard for us to discern what is Godly wisdom and what is worldly wisdom. The reason being is that we don't see Godly wisdom exercised much in our society these days. Take divorce for example. The idea of divorce has become so widespread that some statistics say that Christians are more likely to divorce than non-Christians. Many of us can become confused when much of the world lives in one way but the Bible tells us to live so differently. But that's where the difference lies. The Bible instructs us to live according to Godly wisdom, and many times, it does counter perhaps what the majority of people around us think. Psalm 111:10 says
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise."
If we seek after biblical wisdom, we must approach God with the posture that He is in control of our lives. The fear that we have for God isn't that we're afraid of him, but it's a reverential fear that leads us to respect, worship, honor, and obey God because we recognize that indeed, God is God!

You might say, "Well, I do view God in that way, but why do sometimes I just don't feel like I have the wisdom that's talked about in scripture?"

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. -James 1:5

Examine your heart. Is there anything that you need to repent before God? A repentant heart is what allows God to give us His wisdom. It is the channel that God uses to speak wisdom into our lives. We realize that it's hard and painful sometimes to look back on our past mistakes and bring them before God because we think it would be shameful for God to see that side of us. But that's where Satan lies to us. God doesn't see us that way because of the work of the cross. If we can begin to grasp just the wisdom that's found in the work of the cross, God will give generously to us and reveal to us even greater things.

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Finding The One

You've heard the term before. Much of the young adults of our generation hold steadfast to this belief. If you happened to be living in the cave for the last 20 or so years, then let me quickly explain to you this school of thought. It's the belief that God has designed for us that one person that is meant to be our spouse. As we approach our dating life, we can either pursue after our "one" until we find that one or be absolutely sure that our first relationship is with our one. I've always struggled with this thought because what if our "one" lived a thousand miles away from us. I mean, do we find our "one" in our circle of friends, do we just sit tight until God brings that one into our lives, or do we journey to some random place like Costa Rica to find that one? Or maybe this "finding the one" isn't really that biblical at all?

What is our mindset when we go into a relationship? What questions do you ask yourself? "Do they treat me right?" "Will they meet my needs?" "How do I know if I've found the one?" What's common in these questions? What can you do for me. In an article I read recently, it discusses how modern dating is essentially a selfish endeavor. Many of us have been caught up in finding the one when the question we should be asking is "how can I be the one for him/her?" The point is this. When we search for our one, we've already laid the foundation for selfishness. If selfishness is not what drives a biblical marriage, it should not be what drives a biblical relationship. "Do Nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves" (Phil. 2:3). Rather than looking for that person to fit your list of characteristics that comprise your perfect spouse, you turn to scripture to see what defines a Godly man/woman. If you look hard enough, you'll see that our God calls us to love one another sacrificially. Loving sacrificially is what will secure the commitment in our relationships, not the fleeting feelings of finding our one.

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Meditation

Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purpose and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God.

Its purpose is to clear one's mental and spiritual vision of God, and to let his truth make its full and proper impact on one's mind and heart. It is a matter of talking to oneself about God and oneself; it is, indeed, often a matter of arguing with oneself, reasoning oneself out of moods of doubt and unbelief into a clear apprehension of God's power and grace.

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No Confidence In The Flesh

If I was to pick one chapter in the bible that captures the essence of the Christian life, it is Philippians 3. Paul warns us of men who do evil and reminds us to continue to praise the glory of God. When we come into God's presence, we must be reminded that we are nothing compared to Christ. Whatever we might consider to be our gain should rather be considered a loss when compared to knowing God. To truly know God, we must yearn to know God by becoming like him in his death -- die to ourselves. Paul reminds us that it's not easy, even he's not perfect. But he encourages to press on in the race and forget what's behind us for this is spiritual maturity. We must never forget that ultimately it is the return of Christ Himself that will transform us and perfect us.

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Falling In Love

I'm not a big fan of this term. When people say they fell in love, it just makes it seem like they just tipped themselves over and found themselves in Love Land. While this may hold true for some, I feel the majority of us don't function quite exactly like that. Perhaps what I would call it is persevering on the path to love. I know, I know, it doesn't quite roll off the tongue but bear with me here. The biggest lie that the media can tell us is that in the matter of 90mins, you'll meet the man/woman of your dreams, fall in love with him/her, face 1 or 2 critical moments in the relationship, and boom, the wedding bells are ringing and happily ever after. If only that was the case in our lives, then watching chick flicks would be terribly boring. Love just doesn't get handed to you on a silver-platter. You've got to want it, labor in it, and ask God to perfect it. Looking at Jacob and his 7 years of labor, well actually it was more like 14 years, that's something any man can respect and admire.

"So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her." - Gen 29:20

And I'm sure in those 14 years he spent laboring, there were tough moments, there was probably some frustration on his part, some arguments here and there. But he set his eyes on something greater than the meaningless conflicts, the small things. The sacrifice that he made to give up 14 years of his life to pursue the woman of his dreams is probably the epitome of persevering on the path to love -- only to be topped by how much our Savior has worked to show us His love. In the bible, Christ is often referred to as the Bridegroom and the people as his Bride. But imagine the love! He died for us before the vast majority of mankind was even born. We love people that we like, attracted to, compatible with, and have good conversations with. Christ didn't care about those things for his love was deeper than anything we can imagine. Instead, Christ loved us while we were ugly, broken, emotional, fallen, weak, sinners. To be able to say to someone like that that I want to marry them -- man, talk about tough. But if you think Christ didn't work to show us his love, you've got another thing coming. Not to take anything away from the cross because it is the ultimate display of love for us (1 John 3:16) but while He was with us, Christ endured shame, sorrow, verbal abuse, mental abuse, physical abuse -- you name it, he endured it. I know if I even go through just 1% of what Christ had to endure on his path to loving us, I would be jetting way in the other direction. Cya! But you know what? We've got to start somewhere. God takes whatever morsel of ourselves we're willing to bring to Him, forgives it, loves it, restores it, and perfects it.

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Facing Disappointment

It's difficult when we come face to face with reality and realize how disappointed we've become with certain things. The human mind has the keen ability to paint an illusion before our eyes that behind what we believe to be there stands disappointment. And when we do come around to seeing the truth, the disparity is often times so great that we're just left speechless and in tears of how things have become. In our lives, we can't run away from disappointment. And I question why is that? Why do we become disappointed? I offer the notion that it is sometimes because of our self-righteousness that leads us to disappointment.

disappointment - a feeling of dissatisfaction that results when your expectations are not realized
self-righteous - exhibiting pious self-assurance

The correlation lies when we believe ourselves to be better than who we really are. Majority of the people in the world picture themselves to be a certain type of person -- an expectation. This in it of itself is good when we strive at it and work at it to become a person that we can respect. However, more often than not, our pride kicks in and tells us we're already there -- our self-righteousness. Now take this simple example and apply it to many more of the important areas in life, and you can easily see why it's so hard for us to face disappointment.

Wouldn't this be a terrible if our lives were just one disappointment after another? And time after time, we turn our heads to look at the cross, and we find the comfort and answers we seek. The self-righteousness in us is replaced by the righteousness that's given to us through the death of Christ. And with God's righteousness in us, there is no disappointment. God's expectations for us is repentance and faith -- the very foundation of our beliefs. And when we come to Him in that attitude, there is no disappointment. There is only forgiveness, and through Him, we are made new.

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Life Comes At You Fast

Congrats to Andy and Angela! I remember the first time I met Andy was at camp challenge. Fate would have it that I would meet him on the day that I accepted Christ. Little did I know that we would meet again in college as fellow students and later, become my discipler and a great friend. I think Andy's testimony has been a source of encouragement for me that God is there pushing us through those times of weakness. When we fall and struggle, God faithfully stands by our side. To see Andy come to this point in his life truly shows just how much God loves us. His faithfulness to ministry and commitment to loving people is something that I will always respect and admire. May God bless them both!

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Spotless

I gotta say, I'm pretty proud of myself. Today was the first time that I washed a car from head to toe, front to rear, inside and out, ... Two observations from today:

1) Washing a car is more laborious than it looks
2) Car washing products are pretty $$$

But it's worth it, because for the next week, your car will look spankin' new :D

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Found It!

Did anyone have King Cake today? Hope you found the baby.

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Let The Games Begin

First day of work tomorrow and I have to say the past month or two have been quite a rollercoaster ride. It's amazing how God works in our lives, and the way that God has worked in mine is a true testament of His love for His people. When you've arrived at a milestone, it's always a nice feeling to look back and see the experiences that you've gone through. There's no doubt in my mind that those experiences help mold me to be who I am, but something greater than that, I know God's sovereignty is working behind the scene. Through the mistakes, challenges, and success, God is still the God that He proclaims to be time and time again in the scriptures. How can we lose faith when we have such a faithful God? PTL.

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Losing The Superbowl

I can't imagine how the Patriots are feeling right now. For just being a bandwagon fan, I feel like my heart just sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Perfection was so close. Almost made it. What do you say to your teammates and coaches after a loss like that? My heart really does go out to Tom Brady and the rest of the Patriots. However, I can't take much away from the Giants. Having watched a good deal of the Patriots' games this season, this is by far the best defensive team they've played. But man, I'm still in disbelief at what just happened...

Some people might wonder, why do people take sports so seriously? Sure, it's easy to understand the players emotions but for fans too? I think it's in our human nature to cheer for something. To be excited by something and put our hopes into it. Be it sports, new technology, or fashion - we all cheer for something. In addition, guys who watch sports knows how those men feel when they step onto the field -- their hard work, dedication, pride. You can't help but to feel empathy for those players who've put everything on the line and then go on to lose the biggest game of their life.

...but, then again, maybe I'm just too into sports...

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