Grace, Faith, Obedience

It has dawned upon me, the more I read the more I understand, the more I walk.. That the Christian walk is more than just salvation, yes Salvation through the blood of the Lamb is by far one of the most fundamental truths in our Christian walk, but it's also just the beginning of it all. Through my life as a Christian(basically my whole life) one this is for sure, a personal relationship with God is awesome, and definitely hits the top priority of everything, as I went along, Abba Father actually performed quite a few miracles in my life, healing was the most apparent one, healing for my grandparents when I was very little, healing from my fits, healing for my friends back, my mum's back, oh how wondrous and might is He! :D Seriously He is awesome!

Then I moved on in my walk, before I left UK, I prayed, that I wished to grow deeper in my walk with Him, I would say He granted it a year after I landed, I don't know but I've always had a draw towards God even when I was small. I joined a church that taught about grace, it was wonderful! I never heard anything about grace before this, I knew of it's existence to some extent but never knew the word for it, i learned about prophecy, which He so graciously provides through the Holy Spirit, about the Holy Spirit and the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit... It was all good and I was glad, on a personal level during that time I also learned about love, Christ's love in us, Our Father's love displayed through Christ, and how important it is, that it becomes the greatest among Faith and Hope... Love binds things together, it's not weak of fluffy, actually it will come hard on people who are doing wrong in order to save them from a greater pain and to direct us back on the same path, it's not boastful, there in love, there is not a single bit of pride involved, it's all servitude to the Most High, it takes you to a humbleness, a humiliation if you would like to call it that, there's nothing to boast about, when it's all about God and Him using you as a vessel to serve others, it is slow to anger, now this doesn't mean it's slow to discipline what I have learned was it's very patient with people, understanding their situations, and encouraging their growth in the right direction, but as mentioned it's not weak, nor is it slow to correct, but when some one is on the path to becoming more like Christ, it's patient enough to see you through it. I could talk so much about love, it's an on going experience and sometimes you don't walk in it, but love itself, who is God will correct you.

Now Grace, it's what we call merited favour, so that is what I have learned, that it's His grace was that exchange, that enables us to become Children of the most High. His exchange. But it is not the same as Mercy, which I find more and more of the two being mixed together, making it really confusing, and confusion isn't from God. Mercy is the forgiveness of God, As my walk continued, grace became an apparent two edged sword, which it should not have been to start with, as you dwell in the Scriptures, the more you will realize grace is not the license to Sin, but the power to choose not to, but never forget if you do fall, 1 John 2:1New King James Version (NKJV) My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Grace is much more than a covering, its the power to do God's amazing work, the power to live our God's plans for you, the power to obey! and Christ has never said you don't have to obey anything I say, just do what you want and some how or another you'll get there. He always called for obedience(I'm not going to qoute anything here, you can read it yourself, the great commission verse after the famous 19.. revelations, Corinthians, Christ's walk itself was an obedience and if we are called to be more like Christ, how can we live in sin and live in Christ at the same time?).

Now I'm not saying you can earn your salvation, there's no way to earn it, God paid for it, through Christ, as a free gift, but I am saying a new life in Christ requires a death to our old life in Sin, Sin has no more power, though we know we struggle in this life between flesh and spirit, but we also know what the scriptures say about this, walking in flesh - destruction, walking in spirit - life. But that transformation happens, and should continue to happen as you accept Christ and become more and more like Him.

I challenge each of you who reads this, and is a brother and sister, to go through the gospel, year after year it's something new and refreshing, old and reminding for me, God doesn't contradict Himself, what He says in the word will ALWAYS, I say again ALWAYS overrule, supersede anything preached on the pulpit yesterday, today, and tomorrow. You will find that the Christian walk is more than just preaching the gospel, more than just grace and having your sins forgiven, it's in fact, what I see it as, and what the scriptures say, and new life in Christ. Where the old has gone and the new has come. Not where the old has stayed and the new covers it like a carpet hiding rubbish. :)

Blessings! Keep the good fight of Faith, as we continue to walk with Christ, ain't going to be all rainbows and butterflies but His Grace through Faith will enable you to go through it all!

-Chris

I thought

I thought...

I thought I am strong, but I am not,
I thought it gets better, but it did not,
I thought so long, but I thought wrong.

I thought about death, about where is it's sting,
I thought I heard from heaven above,
I thought I had strength to carry on,
But I might have thought wrong.

Oh what am I but a mere human,
here today and gone tomorrow,
why must the heart feel so heavy,
as if in deep sorrows, pain and anguish.

There's supposed to be hope,
but a human is so short sighted he cannot see,
oh God my God, I don't know how strong I can be,
help me be strong, help me be strong.

O death where is your sting,
but why is it that you call to me?
My Savior Lord, won't you come and take me?
Rescue me from this earthly vessel.

I am pierced so grievouslym
I thought maybe if this and that,
but all I thought, was wrong.
So now I stand in a place of doubt.

To live or to die?
to prepare all things well.
I thought. But I thought wrong.

Rescue me. Save me. Call out to me. Let me hear your voice, take me and counsel me, make me understand. You are my last hope and my first. don't let me mishear you, my shepherd, my Lord....

A year of turning back to God

I have not written in my blog for a long time now, since July I noticed, but you know God is much more faithful than I am in my writings. I wanted to write about this year, what I hear and see it becoming is a year of turning back to God, it really spells out the word repentance.

As much as it seems a taboo, this word repentance, it's actually an amazing word.. to turn your back to sin, and turn your eyes to God. There's a sense of grace in it, to have this opportunity to even turn back to God, that shows His mercy, whether or not you notice it, it shows His grace, no matter what you have done, He is able to forgive, if you turn your back to sin and turn to Him, to get down on your knee and say, Yes, I declare, you Jesus Christ, as my Lord and Saviour, that I admit I am a sinner and I need you in my life, I thank you Father God for sending your son, my Lord, to die for me, so that I can be set free, from the bondages that hold me down. Amen.

This isn't a prayer only for those who are unbelievers, it can be for those who have fallen away, for those who just fell away. Repentance, is necessary, God is able to work in us a great work, if we allow Him to, He can change the heart, that we constantly battle with, He has faith, and we can have faith in Him, that He will finish anything that He starts in us for His name sake.

Romans 3:21-25New Century Version (NCV)

How God Makes People Right

²¹ But God has a way to make people right with him without the law, and he has now shown us that way which the law and the prophets told us about. ²² God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all people are the same: ²³ Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard, ²⁴ and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ. ²⁵ God sent him to die in our place to take away our sins. We receive forgiveness through faith in the blood of Jesus’ death. This showed that God always does what is right and fair, as in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins. 

I like the amplified version for verse 23 in particular:

Romans 3:23Amplified Bible (AMP)

²³ since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God,

As good as we are, we have all fallen short, some might think they fell too far, and that there's no hope for them, I say to you who think this way, that is not true! Christ died even for the worst sinner and can change them completely! To you who say I sin a little, but my good out weighs my bad, I say, does breaking one law and keeping the rest make you justifiable not to be arrested and tried by the law? Either way we have fallen short of the glory of God, in His eyes, we are like dirty rugs, yet in His love for us, He sent His son, my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, to die for all of us! includes the worste to the best of us. But it all requires this action of repentance, to turn to God, accept His help, and turn away from the evil that was once capturing us like a master to a slave.

There's so much I could write in this one post, but I will leave it as it is for now. I hope this year will be a blessing for you, that you will find peace, that you know God is ever waiting, and when you seek Him you will find Him, that He will help you through this year, ride on His help, and be strengthened beyond all measure!

Many Blessings!
-Chris 

 

Strike in the heart, the purpose of life

It has been a real busy time in Singapore, working late nights day after day... But some how God's been faithful, He's been good to me, and I can't say that He has left me in this stressful time, but in fact, He has held me, and is probably the only reason I am not flipping tables and have this strange sense of peace, amongst all my frustration... Few things have happened that aren't considered joyful to most, since my last post, but God is faithful!

Now today is actually the first day since being married going to church in Singapore, and though the message was very particle and about prosperity with a purpose (examples weren't amazing, but the just of the message was great!). I got a different hit of revelation, it hit my soul so hard I couldn't not feel somewhat convicted. It came to me from a new song from Mat Redman There is no one like our God. 

"Your Death has spoken life to us and every Accusation, all our condemnation silenced at the cross...." Suddenly something in me didn't say with an audible voice, but definately gave a knowing of this, hey! this is why we are here, remember? Christ died for all! all condemnation are silenced at the cross! Not to say all things are good, that we have a license to sin or anything. But more of here I am forgiven, for the things I have done in life, This is the love and forgiveness that Christ has thrown to us as an example, this is the forgiveness we should show others, as wrong as we think they are. Now it doesn't mean we love their wrong doings, but we love them as the person and forgive them for anything they do against us... A love that impacts, not one of just praying for someone, now I didn't say don't pray, I said not JUST praying for someone, it's the extension of your hand, and your act of kindness despite the hostility against all else. The real purpose, to love, to show who and what Christ is to His bride, the church. :)

Second thing that hit me was the Philippians 4:6 - Very stuck in my heart as I used to meditate on this a lot, Do not be anxious about anything but through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  Normally the first half of this is stuck in my head, Do not be anxious about anything but through prayer. Then the thanksgiving then the request to God because frankly I didn't understand what it meant by petition, yet, somehow or another today, it made sense, with the help of pastor How's explanation it clicked... corporate prayer, which has answered that question in my head, why do we do this corporate prayer when we can do it at home? because this is the way you do it, instead of being anxious, as a group, as if signing a petition to a higher authority, instead of signing, it's that Amen, that togetherness in praying. Oh How great our God is! Unfailing, Beyond measure, Full of Grace, More than Enough, the Provider, The Peace, The Father, The Shepherd, The Banner, The life, The Word, The king above all kings, The creator, the ruler of All, Beyond all patience, love and virtue, HE is the purest of all! Hallelujah and all glory to Him forever and ever! Amen

Reflections

You know sometimes you think on days, and these are one of those days for myself. We try to be happy and keep a positive vibe in life, but we all know its' never going to be all ups and now downs, highs without lows. But I suppose that's what makes life beautiful, and gives us a reason to be able to give honour where honour is due, praise where praise is due, to be able to think of these things. I know as you read my blog, you will see a huge mix of emotions from the teenager version of myself 10 years or more ago, to a very "Christian" version of myself posting as much encouragement as possible. But I have no regrets on those posts, I am more than glad if even one person stumbles on this blog and finds encouragement. But because I am real, there's other things thrown into the mix.

Well, I've been in Singapore for almost 6 months now, the initial phase was hectic, I have always been longing to go home, but I know some how, this project was by God's grace, in order for the correct financial flow to come in for wedding preparations, with the ringgit weakening and the exchange rate increasing it was good money.  But my honest reflections were that my heart was low, as if covered in a black murky clouds, lonely, and yearning for friends.But Praise to God for helping sending colleagues down as well as a friend who helped show love. An act of Christ I would say, stretched out an arm and offered what I would say a cup of water. Thank you Pheobe :). However now I am being extended for another 6 months I don't feel too bad, but I don't feel great either. Perhaps its me missing my poiema family back in Malaysia.. Not that I am the most sociable, But I do miss others that have left. Rosy, is one those :).

As I continue to reflect on lives, I realise it's not the place you are put in, but the people who make the place what it is. I am thankful for the few but great friends I have, William, Alicia, Ash to name a few. I am also very intrigued by a few such as Esther and Melissa, but they will probably never know, but that doesn't matter because I will write it here none the less, I saw them when they were young, not so tall, till they grew to extremely beautiful women, both of which would hit very high numbers if guys were to rate them, but with the physical they too have an amazing heart and personality, something of which is a rarity in this world where people are always trying to find themselves. I wish that they will continue on this path of light, and that one day God will send some one extremely special to them, who will treat them with respect, honour and love! As well as other things. May God satisfy their souls.

I am so grateful for people, genuine friends, who stuck by my side, I enjoy their company. And so my life will change soon too. I will have another entering into unison with myself :). I am glad, I will rejoice, because I am certain this is God's blessing into my life. Thank you kaylee, my dearest, and closest to my heart. You have been with me a long time, and through that time we have stretched through things that have been both bad and good, but that's what makes our relationship so much more real than anything else, a huge part of my heart belongs to you, I hope we have more days ahead as we become one flesh, and leave our parents to make a new life in God. What an electrifying and amazing thing to expect. God is good :).

To all those who have read so far, and have been coming back to my blog now and again, I thank you for reading, May your life hold many blessings, many exciting things, many happiness and comfort in times of sorrow. Keep a smile on your face, God loves you, Jesus knocks on the door of your heart, it's all good!

Blessings!
Chris