Soul Surfer

Have you seen this movie called Soul Surfer??? If you haven't, I highly recommend it. I was boiling my eyes out watching it at youth summer camp. It's one of the most inspiring stories ever told.

It is based on true story of a thirteen years old surfer called Bethany Hamilton, who lost one arm from a shark attack and still manage to fulfil her dream of becoming a pro surfer.

After the tragedy hit and she lost one arm, she didn't loose her strongwill to surf again.  "I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength" (Phil 4:13) is her motto.

Her success didn't come easy. As you can imagine, surfing with one arm isn't exactly a piece of cake. But God truly helped her to see things with the right perspective. Right after loosing a regional surfing tournament, after she gave up on surfing, she went to Phuket, Thailand, to help World Vision assist the tsunami victims. There she met people who've lost everything, including their families. Only then she realized how blessed it is, and that life isn't just about surfing. Most importantly... It is about love. Love surpasses everything.

One powerful message this story tells is 'perspective'. If you look at a photo of an object way too close, say down to the pixel, it is hard to tell what the actual object is. Only if you zoom it out then you can see the whole object and only then it makes sense.

Our lives and circumstances can be a bit like that too. Sometime we might not understand our circumstances, or situation or why bad things happened in our lives. But one thing we should trust is that God sees the big picture, and the big picture is always a plan to prosper us, and not to harm us.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 NIV
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord...

What challenges are you facing today?

What has just been taken from you that you don't deserve to loose?

If a thirteen years old can be a pro surfer after having lost one arm, you too can overcome your challenges and losses! Trust Him because He is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (Eph 3:20)

Hebrews 11:1 NIV
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Naomi's (non??) generosity

This morning on the way to church, we drove past  a local coffee drive-through. Naomi asked me if I can buy her a bag of cookies. I said no, because each cup comes with a cookie anyway, and she had to have a proper brekky.

So we got a cuppa each and there were two cookies between us. As soon as I got my drink, she said, "mummy can I have your cookie too?" Being a nice mum I said "sure" and gave her my cookie. So she had two!

A few minutes later, I asked her, "Naomi, can I have a cookie please??" Straight away she said no. So I pleaded for it, and she finally said "okay, only half ok?"

I said, "If you give me one I can buy you a bagful!!"

Instead of giving me one, her response was ... "When???"

By that time I had in my mind 'geez man! This kid really know how to bargain with me, doesn't she?'

I said, "Tomorrow".

Even after that this is what she said, "Promise?????"

Hmmm... That probably shows how bad I am at keeping my promises, my own daughter doesn't even trust me.

In the end I said, "Nah.. don't worry Naomi, you can have them all". In my head I'm  thinking, 'you failed the test!'

This is embarrassing to admit, but when it comes to giving, aren't we a bit like that as well sometimes.

Do you believe that God will provide? He is more than able to meet our needs and fulfil the desires of our hearts. But do we trust Him? Or are we a bit like my 6 y.o?? Asking when, how, and seeking for a written contract that God will provide for our needs if we give him what we have now?

God is the source of our living, our income, our health. He has blessed us with so many good things in this life. When it comes to giving back to Him, we can be a bit calculative. We want to make sure we will have enough for all our needs first, for eating out after church, or to fill petrol, or for tomorrow's coffee money, etc. and then we give Him the leftovers, the spare change.

If Naomi had said yes with a delightful heart the first instance I asked for that cookie, I would've given her the cookie back and give her the biggest kiss and bought her another bagful!! Simply because that act of giving, combined with generosity and love, it just blessed my heart so much. The fact that she loves that cookie so much yet she was willing to put her desires second in order to please me, that will drive me to want to bless her more.

It is the same with our Father in heaven. The Bible told us the following story:

Mark 12:41-44 NIV

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

When it comes to giving, God doesn't need your money. He doesn't need your spare change. He simply wants to be blessed by your heart's attitude, and He loves seeing you eager to please Him. Because of that He will be moved to bless you even more. Even without our gifts, God already wants to bless you anyway because He is our Father. Which father doesn't care about his child's needs?

So today I just want to challenge you.... Have you been giving to Him generously? Have you sacrificed anything in order to give? Have you been giving with a joyful heart in thanksgiving of what He has done??

Let's bless His heart and be blessed... :)

Jesus, our oxygen.

John 20:30-31 NLT

The disciples saw Jesus did many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

John 20:31 AMP

But these are written (recorded) in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ (the Anointed One), the Son of God, and that through believing and cleaving to and trusting and relying upon Him you may have life through (in) His name [through Who He is].

I have been pondering upon this verse for a few hours. I read up some commentaries but i still dont quite understand it fully. I understand that the scriptures are written so that people may believe in Him, the messiah, the saviour. There are so many proof of miracles done by God through Jesus, His son. The gospels are written by his disciples, who bore witness to what Jesus had done, His power and what He was able do, His loving heart, His compassion for others and His desire to come closer to all sinners, the imperfect, the flawed, which is us, normal people.

When we believe in Jesus, we "may have life through Him". To me, it means having Jesus as the our source of our being, source of our lives, our joy, our strengths, our compassion for others, .. we draw our everything through Him.

It's like when we go diving we wear oxygen mask. It is only through that oxygen that we are able to breathe and stay alive. The oxygen is what we need to stay alive, without it we won't be able to stay alive and enjoy the underwater scenery which is the whole purpose of diving.

This life that we have is a bit like that. Living in this life is like diving underwater, and to those who believe, Jesus is our oxygen. Through Him we have our lives, the lives that God gave us. What I mean by that is we are sinful being, and by the standard of God's holiness, we deserve to be punished to death. But God has given His only son, Jesus, as a sin sacrifice for all of us (whether you believe it or not) Jesus has died for your sins (yes, YOU, whoever you are, whatever you've done) so that you may 'escape' God's wrath and continue to live.

Through Him, we can have true joy, peace and happiness, the type of happiness that is truly from within despite of our external circumstances. The type of happiness that doesn't depend on alcohol, or money, or power or anything else.

Through Him we have our health because Jesus healed the sick. He loves us and He has compassion, and He's the same yesterday, today and forever.

Through Him we have all our needs because He is our Father. Like every other father, He wants to make sure we have all that we need, and often what we ' want' as well!

Through Him, we can truly enjoy the underwater scenery!!

That's all I got for now.

I believe throughout the week as i chew upon this, god will reveal more of what His words means to me. Because He is my shepherd and i am His sheep, and I can hear His voice. Because i am His child, so im sure my Father will want to reveal Himself to me more and more, daily.

One Verse a Day

2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Today marks the beginning of a new year. With anything new, consciously or not we tend to make a resolution. It may not be only on New Year's day, it could be anytime we begin something new.

For eg, when we move to a new house we might set a brand new rules for the kids (no drawing on walls??). Or perhaps we'd say to ourselves, "im gonna water the garden everyday so my new backyard doesn't end up looking like a jungle again" (talking from past experience).

Or perhaps we've just started a new job. We might decide that this time you're not going to be romantically involved with anyone from work, or maybe this time you're going to work harder and pursue a career progression within the company.

Whatever it is we are starting new, we have the tendency to make a small resolution.

So today, in celebration of a brand new year, my NY resolution is one Bible verse a day, followed by a devotional journal entry.

It's not a new resolution, it is a repeated one from last year. I didn't manage to fulfill it without fail but I didn't stop after one failure. Everytime I stopped, I gave myself a new beginning. Every Monday is a beginning. Every first day of the month is a beginning. I just kept restarting everytime I failed. "We only really fail when we quit trying", I read that somewhere.

Because my NY resolution is one scripture a day, I think it is important to firstly ground myself in the WHY.
Why do I need to read the Bible???
Hence I've picked this particular reading plan about why we have to read the Bible. So everyday for the next two weeks, you'll find that my verse is related to this theme of WHY READ THE BIBLE.

Having done this (although quite inconsistently), I find that the Bible is just so full of promises for those who believes. Whenever we face certain circumstances, there's always a verse and a promise from God that will get us through. If only we'd believe.

Whatever your situation is...
Are you sad?? Lonely?? Sick?? Poor?? Being betrayed?? Loosing your faith?? Needing a partner?? God already has a promise for you for this particular area in your life. You just need to search for His promises and start declaring them because He never fails. He never lies, He's the same Jesus that healed the sick, raised people from the dead, comfort the sad, and love the outcasts. He's the same yesterday today and forever.

I ask that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. (Paul's prayer for the Ephesians, Eph 1:17-19 NIV).