Speech.

When you eat something spicy what does your mouth feel like? How do you react? 


Maybe you gulp a glass of water, fan your mouth with your hand, close your mouth, relish the burn, and start to sweat. Whatever you do, it's practically automatic. Your body sends a signal to your brain saying "Help!" Your brain reacts, sending signals to your body. Before you know it, you're gulping a glass of water. Your mouth feels better. 




Mark 13:11

Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

Did you know the Holy Spirit has the power to give you words to say? Not words to crush or intimidate, but words to teach and to reveal God's Spirit. The Holy Spirit knows what you say, even when you don't. And just as your brain moves you to cool down your spice-abused mouth, the Holy Spirit moves you to speak. 


Have you ever spoken God's words?


If you don't remember that a glass of water is available when your mouth is burning, your brain will find an alternative. Likewise, if you don't rely on the Holy Spirit within you for words to say, you'll find an alternative to God's words- your own. 

Live with a Purpose.

God is at work in you through the power of the Holy Spirit. Even when you don't fee like much is going on, God's Spirit is moving, bubbling, welling up from the very depths of your life. 


John 5:2-9 

Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

 Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

   The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,

After 38  years of waiting. Waiting to experience this miraculous moment. The moment to submerge himself in the stirred up pool. A man's life was dramatically changed. He experienced the love of Christ bubbling up in his life. 

God wants our lives to be like the water that is stirred up. He wants us to provide hope for the lost, rest for the weary. He wants to full us with the miraculous.

With Christ you can. Bubble with joy. Shake with excitement. Move with power. Live with a purpose. 

Full Access.

We often have places where they are restricted. Whether it be at school, home, work, and just about anywhere. There's that one room or drawer which you can't open. No matter how much you want to open it you just can't because you aren't allowed.

God is awesome, powerful, and influential. Our access to God has NO restrictions. Jesus had opened up the way for you to go and meet with his Dad. There's no appointment system, no secretaries, and no "Come back later."

There's no need to knock. He's there waiting for you and I. Walk towards God because he has a welcoming smile and open arms just waiting for you.

Road to Calvary (III)

Before Jesus was arrested, as the amazing man he was, continue to prove himself by prophesying. Earlier in John 13, Jesus predicts that Peter will deny him three times before the rooster crows, and in John 18, that is exactly what happens after Jesus is arrested.

15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest,16 but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

...

25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

John 18:15-18, 25-27

In the previous post, Judas represented us as followers of Christ that have fallen short of his glory because we are human and because we are sinners and need the love and help of Christ to reconcile with God. Similarly, here, Peter also can represent us. When we confess, repent and believe in our God, the sinner's prayer says that we accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour. But many times, we forget why we say this, what this statement means and what commitment we're getting into exactly.

Saviour. We believe that Christ died on the cross for us, for all of mankind because we have fallen short of God's glory through sin. He is that connection between us and God, granting us the gift of salvation.

Lord. We often forget that when we say Lord, we are letting God take our lives by the reigns, and giving him full access and control. He reigns in our life as Lord. We should know and believe that he has a perfect and better plan for us, and having faith in him will only bring us blessing and happiness.

As a commitment, we are "married" to Christ. Peter, one of the disciples was completely committed to following Christ, but afterwards, he denied knowing him. If you were married, you wouldn't deny that your spouse was your spouse right? What kind of relationship is that? Yet as followers we may have the tendency to deny our God, due to pride, selfishness, and reputation.

Have you ever been a "Peter" in your life? Have you ever denied your faith because you would get ridiculed? judged? "Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself", at first, it seems like such an insignificant line, why is that necessary to be put in? (v. 18) After thinking about it, it shows how two-faced Peter (as well as us) can be. He simply decided to follow the world, "the servant and officers" (who were against Jesus), and join in their activities. This really demonstrates the difference between living IN this world and OF this world. Where do you stand? How far will you go before you decide to go against Christ?

"at once, a rooster crowed." A true demonstration of the power of God. That it IMMEDIATELY crowed, exactly as Jesus predicted. I've felt this before, after sinning, I sometimes feel like Adam and Eve, after biting into that apple after temptation, to have my eyes truly open to realize exactly how disgusting this act was, and how Satan lured us in.

But there's hope. God STILL continues to love us oh so unconditionally. And as long as we have genuine repentance and ask for forgiveness, he will give us another chance, a clean slate as his mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23).

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Romans 11:33

comma,

Today is Palm Sunday. There's only a week before the highlight of the Christian calendar, in five days Jesus will be beaten, tormented and spat on for our sins as he carries the consequences of sin on his shoulders for all of mankind. But in seven days, we will rejoice as he has resurrected from the grave, ultimately showing his power, his love, but most importantly hope.

My devotions the past few days have constantly been saying, "during this time of lent, reflect on...". I think i haven't been taking the time to reflect on his grace, his love, and his sacrifice. During band practice, we did devotionals, and it talked about being in constant communion with Christ. It said that quiet time isn't enough. It was a surprise because i always thought that if i made time to spend with Christ, that would be sufficient. But its much more. Its to be thinking about him, in every moment. Sometimes its difficult, because you're focusing on other things, how exactly do you focus on Christ as well? To quote the devotion,

"the key to friendship with God is not changing what you do, but chaining your attitude toward what you do. What you normally do for yourself, you begin doing for God, whether it is eating, bathing working, relaxing, or taking out the trash." - Rick Warren

There's so much more to this thing we call faith. It isn't just an action where you say "i believe". It isn't just the baptism where you get dunked. There's more. Its a commitment and its a lifestyle. There's more that we live for.

During today's sermon my pastor said something that stuck out to me, "life is a comma, not a period." There's much more after life. What you do in this life determines what happens in the next life. Like the parable in Matthew 25:31-46, it talks about goats and sheep. One will enter heaven because they lived out Christ's life, and one will enter the gates of Hell because they were not representatives of Christ.

This last week of lent, before easter, I hope that i can work harder to reflect and think about God glory, and focus on him more. On his love and sacrifice for me.

²⁷ Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,²⁸ so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Hebrews 9:27

Hello, My Name is: Creator

Our God is a great God

Our God is an awesome God

Our God is a BIG God as well.

The seven days of creation were definitely one of the first stories we're taught in sunday school. How God made light, the heavens, the earth, the sea and sky, the plants, the animals, and finally humans. He created all this for us and for our use.

It took me a while to grasp this fully, but now in grade 12, and learning science, it really opened my mind towards our God as the creator. Biology, Physics and Chemistry, all consist of how things work, how things came to be, and it was through those lessons at school that truly helped me realize how great our God is. What i found was most interesting was being able to see how our God thought of all this.

Biology. In our stomachs, we have many gastric acids, with a low pH, making them extremely acidic. These acids are used to help breakdown the food in our bodies, but when they get into our intestines for water and nutrients to be absorbed, shouldnt the acids eat away at our intestines? Our bodies are designed that when food is digested and moves into the intestines, bicarbonate ions are released to neutralize the acids.

Chemistry. Red Shift. If we look at all the stars, they are red shifted, which means they are moving away. From this we can predict that in previous years, they were much closer than they are now. What does this mean? That means that one point in time, all these stars were much closer, making it one of the biggest evidences for the big bang theory. But if you think about it, the big bang was an explosion, which needed energy. Where did this massive energy come from? It had to be a greater force, from a greater being.

Physics. The Force of Friction is always something we've understood and learnt, that if you slide anything across a surface, it will eventually stop due to friction. Learning physics was so complex, so difficult to calculate from the coefficient of friction, to how light is polarized to watching videos on string theory. It shows how difficult and complex and how detailed life is, since physics explains why everything does what it does. Energy, forces, all these tiny details that God thought of and put together to make our world into what it is today. Isnt that just incredible?

Our God is an awesome God, he has created everything on this earth. The grass on the ground, the clouds in the sky, the plankton in the fish, your friends, your parents, and your teachers. From a science point of view, we try to understand everything, how everything works, but the truth is, we cant. If we could, we could understand God, but he is much greater and our little incompetent minds do not have the capacity to do so.

We're talking about a God that not only made earth, but the enormous universe. He wants to be your Lord, is there not a greater person to put your trust and faith in?

Job 26:7-14

⁷ God stretches the northern sky over empty space
and hangs the earth on nothing.
⁸ He wraps the rain in his thick clouds,
and the clouds don’t burst with the weight.
⁹ He covers the face of the moon,
shrouding it with his clouds.
¹⁰ He created the horizon when he separated the waters;
he set the boundary between day and night.
¹¹ The foundations of heaven tremble;
they shudder at his rebuke.
¹² By his power the sea grew calm.
By his skill he crushed the great sea monster.
¹³ His Spirit made the heavens beautiful,
and his power pierced the gliding serpent.
¹⁴ These are just the beginning of all that he does,
merely a whisper of his power.
Who, then, can comprehend the thunder of his power?”

Wind.

As I sit on my chair, in my room I calm my heart and quiet my soul.
I realized that there was something going on outside. It was the wind. I thought to myself, why is so powerful right now? How come we have to go through all this?

Then, it hit me. God, the creator of all things, is making us go through this. His strength is so abundant that some of us don't realize that what's happening around us is what God has in store for us. As i listen to the wind i realize how protected we are right now. We have a home to live in, a bed to sleep in every night. Something as simple as wind can just pick us up and throw us across town but God decides to keep us safe in our homes.

He is so powerful and almighty and we have to remember to thank Him for everything that we've gone through. Good or bad.

Why?

We always wonder why God picks US to do certain challenges.
Rick Warren says, "With God’s Spirit working in us and through us, we can get through what we’re going through."

I think this is something that stood out to me the most. Going through all these challenges in 2011 till now. math. Who knows what I'm going to end up with but through God, anything is possible.
He puts us through these challenges for us to rejoice and learn from the experiences. He'll NEVER give us a challenge that we can't conquer. It may take minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, maybe even years.

I have a friend that I've knows since JK. We even played soccer together every single recess in grade 1-2. He was like my brother. I waited for 11 years for him to open up to me. It took a while but it happen. I wanted to just give up during the process but there was something blocking me. Something that pushed me further to make him open up. It was God. He gave me the wisdom and strength to pull through. To keep him accountable, check up on him every now and then.

And now, we talk almost everyday he shares his most deepest and darkest secrets. I'm truly thankful for God. Although i really wanted to give up, He's the one that kept me going.

Getting through what you’re going through requires a shift. Instead of asking, “Why me?” ask, “What do I do with this, God?”

-Rick Warren.

Someone Bigger, Someone Better.

Walking to school today, i realized something really important. God is on our side. Being the person i am, im never really confident about myself, and i need MUCH reassurance to feel like something's good to go.

God is on our side. And this isnt just an ordinary person. He's the CREATOR of the UNIVERSE, he's the KING of KINGS, he conquered death and defeated the devil. The list goes on and on and on. HE is the one standing with me? Thats... quite the honour. HE's got my back? HE's on MY side? What can stop me? There's nothing to be scared about, and nothing to worry about if you got the BIG GUY on your side.

Now the only concern is YOU. Are you going to put your trust in this King, this God? Or are you going to try to make it all your way and not give up?

My own personal struggle is that i dont have this full trust in God and sometimes, i feel like i dont fully understand exactly how powerful and how amazing this person i believe in is. I dont believe he's "all that great", and im sure thats one of the factors hindering me from moving forward in my faith.

I love realizing things like this.

Someone bigger. Someone better. On MY SIDE? thats mindblowing. Why me. but he chose me. and he has chosen you too. Its up to you whether or not you'll accept his offer.

Rejoice.

²⁴ The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.

Rejoice. Its important that we rejoice, firstly, happiness is always better than sadness, its just a better feeling. It promotes optimism and joy in one's life.

I remember reading a verse that states "to rejoice in all circumstances". Whether it may be sad, something horrid, anything that happens try to learn to rejoice because our God is good.

Rejoice can also mean thanksgiving. Look around you and realize how blessed we are. Yesterday someone came in and talked about clean water, how much we use it and it really opened my eyes and reminded me how blessed i truly am. Its so unfair to others and we're just absorbing all these resources, the gap between the rich and the poor is so wide. Be thankful and count your blessings.

Reflect on how powerful God is. He has the power to destroy you in an instant, you may not wake up tomorrow. Who knows. Im not trying to scare you, but really live each moment and make it count. Sometimes i wake up and i think God for just giving me another day to live. We complain about school, about work, but think about the people that dont even have the chance to know how it feels to learn. We're SO blessed and we all take it for granted.

I remember thinking back to my kids, overnight camp, day camp, and just seeing the joy in them, and how carefree they are and how happy they are, its... so freeing i guess you can say. At an age like mine, we stress over school, over friends, but these guys, they're just... free as birds, enjoying life and enjoying what they have. I think we need a bit of that in our lives regularly. To just rejoice, and enjoy what we've been given.

Rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice.

Jason