Why do I blog?

Some of my friends ask me: why do I blog?

Have you heard that story about the lost sheep?

Luke 15

Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

If you had many children, would you allow one of your children to go missing without any attempt to find or investigate? Any sane parents would put their heart and soul to find their missing child. They'd do anything they can and spend all their money for the sake of that one, just one, missing child.

The heart of God is filled with so much more love than we, human, can comprehend. If a human parent can love their children that much, God's love for His children, including the lost ones, is like ten hundred thousand million (if such number exists) times more! And Jesus said it himself in that parable.

I guess I blog in the hope that my friends, colleagues, the youth, and everyone in my circle of influence turn to God and accept His love by accepting what He's done through His son, Jesus. Plus I would like to see them in heaven for the eternity.

It's also my payback for what He's done for me. He has blessed me and my family with everything: health, finances, peace, forgiveness, love, acceptance, and everything we ever need and want! But even if things go bad, I know that what He's done for me on the cross is enough for me to continue to do this.

Joel Houston once said, we, believers, are like many loose chains that connect people to God, you are one link in a chain, and you may be part of different chains to connect different people. A person may be influenced by many believers over time before they make a decision for Christ. Even if it's at the very end of their lives.

You are one of the links in the chain that brings your friend to God.

So if you read a blog entry that touches your heart, can you please share it so it reaches out to as many people?

Tat way you're helping Him reach out to His children and I'm sure He'll bless you for that. Not that He needs our help, but then again which parents don't like seeing their children lend helping hands out of love and gratitude?

This is not about me. I couldn't care less if you ask me to take my photo off and change my name to 'Anonymous'. It's all about telling the world that there is a God, who loves them unconditionally.

So if you read my blog, and you do not know God or Jesus, simply ask Him to reveal Himself to you and when the time is right, I'm sure He will. It really doesn't matter who you are, what you do for a living, or what wrongs you have done in the past. Nothing matters, because He has the power to change you.

Even if only one person in this whole world change his/her life and accepts Him because of this blog, it is worth it.

He initiates!

It feels like forever since the last time I write. I know that it has
been forever since the last time I posted an entry. I have been a
'Martha' rather than a 'Mary' lately. There's just unending list of
things to be done, and when I'm about to have quiet time, there's
always distraction and I kept being reminded of what needs to be done.
That's why Ps. Chris once said something along the line of, "If you
want to be reminded about what needs to be done, start praying!
Because I guarantee you that satan will try to stop you from praying
by reminding you of all the tasks in the world to be done".

The other thing he said was our spirit cant survive on yesterday's
food. Just like our bodies can't eat old rotten food. Just because we
felt the presence of God yesterday or last week, and it's caused our
heart to change or to be softened or to be hungry for Him, it wont
stay as it is. Our spirit needs continuous nourishment, which is
prayer and the word of God.

It's only been 3 days since Sunday service and I could really feel my
spirit drying up. How can I tell? I began to get frustrated over
little things, I get short tempered, I don't feel at peace, there is
no joy inside my heart. Everything is fine, and yet, I just feel very
… unhappy. I know then that my spirit is longing for some nourishment,
some food, some water, spiritual nourishment. It needs to draw from
the only source of peace, and that's God.

Psalm 42 says "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul
pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God."
That's the only way I can describe this feeling.

However, I'm also trying to put a few pieces of puzzle together... for
some weird reason, I was lead to Psalm 139 and John 6:44 today.

Psalm 139 says...
1 You have searched me, LORD,
   and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
   you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
   you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
   you, LORD, know it completely.

John 6:44 says, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him".

Putting the two together... I realise that God must have initiated our
'meeting', and that's why He's allowed this sense of darkness to hover
above and around me, disturbing my mind, disturbing my peace... so
that I actually come to Him, in desperation, seeking Him. It's amazing
to know... that even our relationship with Him is initiated by Him. He
helps us in our journey with Him. He helps us by drawing us near to
Him.... through circumstances, through moods, through people, through
everything He can think of... because He knows me, every tiny micro
cell within me. He knows how I think, how I operate, how my mind
works, how my mood drives me. He knows me well, too well, and He uses
that to draw me near to Him, so that He doesn't loose me. I find that
fascinating that the God of this universe, something so big and so
powerful, cares so much about something so small and ordinary.

So if today you're feeling a bit down, a bit blue, a bit depressed,
unhappy, not at peace....It may even be God trying to draw you to Him.
He wants to give you a taste of peace, the joy that surpasses our
understanding. All you need to do is come to Him.

Philippians 4:
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer
and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And
the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and
sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if
anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in
me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Purpose

I remember one time at the managers' leadership conference, we had
this bike-building exercise. There were over 100 of us, and we were
divided into groups of 8-10. We were given a box of kids bicycle and
the only instruction was that we have to ensemble the bike within a
certain time-frame.

As soon as we heard the word 'go', all the groups started to open the
packaging and the teams tried to work together to ensemble the
bicycle. Everyone played their part, contributed what their good at.
Some read the instruction, some put the parts together, some worked
on the brakes, and some simply cheered and cracked jokes. Naturally,
we all started to compete and tried to be the first few to finish our
bikes.

Finally time was up and we went back to our tables. All of a sudden,
the conference room doors opened and about 10-15 little kids, aged
between 4 to 10, entered the room. They were accompanied by some adult
representative from this particular organisation that helps
under-privileged kids with their basic needs. The kids come from all
sorts of difficult backgrounds. Some of them have been passed on from
one foster care to another because their parents are in rehab for drug
or alcohol abuse. Some of them have been taken away from their parents
due to domestic violence. Some of them are being taken care of by a
foster family with 5 other kids, and the list goes on.

After we were briefed about these kids, we were then told that those
bicycles were going to be donated to them. There were mixed reactions,
mixed emotions in the room. Each group then got to pick a child, and
bring him to the bicycle for a test ride. We got to interact with the
child, learnt his name, his favourite colour, favourite food,
favourite activity, etc. We saw mixed reactions from the children.
Some had the biggest smile on their face because perhaps for the very
first time in their lives, somebody gave them a bike! Their own bike!
But some seemed so shy and scared, perhaps because we were strangers
to them, or perhaps because of what they went through as a child.

We were also told that there will be trained bicycle mechanics who
will check each bicycle for safety before it's delivered to the
children. This was kinda funny, because before we knew that the bikes
were going to be given to these kids, we thought it was simply a
bike-building exercise, or some sort of team building activity.
Naturally we were competing with each other. Naturally, we didn't care
so much about the quality of our work and the safety of our bikes. The
first priority was to get it done, and if possible, to be the first.
After some of the groups finished their bikes, some even went around
the room, teasing and mocking the other groups, making it known that
they've 'successfully' accomplished their goal. Some went around to
lend a helping hand, but often got rejected because some were too
proud to seek help.

After we finished the exercise, we had a group discussion about the
activity, and some of the comments made were "If we'd known that the
bike was for little kids, we would've been more thoughtful about its
safety." "We would've helped each other to make sure we have good,
high quality, save bikes for the children". In short, knowing the end
purpose of the exercise changed their behaviour.

Purpose: "an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your
planned actions"; "the reason for which something exists".

I wander how many of us really know our purpose. This life is short.
What do you do with it? If you really understand what you will be
measured on at the end of your life, would it change how you live
today?
What's your purpose for living?
Do you know what your God-given destiny is?
Do you understand why your are who/what you are?

I'll leave these thoughts with you for now... something to think about...