Hmm..., Daniel's old beat up car broke down and wants me to pick him up. Satan is pretty good at disrupting my devotion time... oh well. Will do it later...
===================================================================
Today's scripture reading was kinda annoying and boring, bickering of Sarah and Hagar... and the inability of Abraham to properly handle those two women. If only they could do it God's way in the first place, then everything would be alright. However, I suppose it's always easier in hind sight when we're not personally involved... once we're personally involved, it's highly likely that I'd be just as stupid as Abraham and Sarah was! ;)
Amazing part is how patient and graceful God treated all of them, even when they mess up or when they lacked faith!
Thanks Lord God for being kind to us..., please continue to help me do the right things in my own life whether if it's at home or at work... so that I can bring You more glory..., instead of more messes... anyway, either glory or mess, I know You love me all the same..., but I do want to not only be a son who You love, but I also want to be a son who You are well pleased. Help me be the son You want me to be, okay? Thanks, I pray in Christ's name.
(Genesis 16:1-15, 18:1-15, 21:1-7)
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Righteous by faith!
Over the weekend was very productive, I actually mow the lawn, worked overtime... saw the movie Apocalyto, it was interesting, but not sure what Mel Gibson was trying to say there... probably just about the insatiable appitite of the human race in general. On Sunday we also celebrate uncle's 61st birthday..., gotta thank God for giving my wife sufficient patience to actually sit thru another family dinner thing successfully! ;) Weekend seem to just fly by so quickly...
Today I went out to lunch with Daniel..., I actually haven't seen him for 3 weeks... because I took 2 weeks off and then he took a week off after I came back to work... Anyway, yeah, he talked about how beautiful the areas around Mammoth was like... also encourtered a bear! It's totally different compared to winter times where we usually go to ski. Yosemite was quite gorgeous too! It's too bad the stupid immigrations office forced us to take a detour during our 'family vacation'. Otherwise we could've visited those areas ourselves!
Anyway, more devotional type things later, now, I have to get back to work! ;)
===================================================================
Part II
Okay, back home for now... read about Abraham, father of faith...
Romans 4
3 經 上 說 甚 麼 呢 ？ 說 ： 亞 伯 拉 罕 信 神 ， 這 就 算 為 他 的 義 。
4 做 工 的 得 工 價 ， 不 算 恩 典 ， 乃 是 該 得 的 ；
5 惟 有 不 做 工 的 ， 只 信 稱 罪 人 為 義 的 神 ， 他 的 信 就 算 為 義 。
We had faith in the Acura dealer, so we bought a car without actually first seeing it! ;) Of course if the Acura dealer screws us over by saying they're out of the car we want or if they jack up the price, our faith definitely would be in vain and wasted a long drive to Van Nuys. Just as if God is fake, then Abraham's faith would've been in vain! Anyway, it's kind interesting why God would see us as righteous by simply believing in Him. But of course real faith would follow by action too, such as Abraham actually did everything God told him to do.
Sure would be nice to be able to hear God, but I suppose I can start by just doing what He said in the Bible for now! ;) I think often we fail God is because our memory just sucks! I'm having the hardest time trying to remember what Pastor Jim said on Sunday... and my notes were left in the car and I'm too lazy to go get it now... Oh may the Lord have mercy on our soul! How can one reach some sort of balance in between? Surely we dont' want God nagging at us all the time, but if not, we might end up being forgetful? Abraham was sorta like that. As long as if God told him to do somethin, he'd do it. But if not, he'd often end up doing stupid things such as pretending his wife to be his sister... Oh God, help us do Your will better please! We want to be righteous like You, not just by faith!
(Genesis 15, 17, 22; Romans 4:1-5, 9-25)
PS- okay, finally got my notes, here are the points of Pastor Jim's sermon which I forgot!
1) your problems are not real problems, but how you see your problems can be a real problem!!!
2) focus your attention on what's important, focus your attention on God!!!
3) stay plugged in with the true vine, with the church!!!
4) to live if Christ, to die is gain(Phil 1:21) Live for God!!!
Today I went out to lunch with Daniel..., I actually haven't seen him for 3 weeks... because I took 2 weeks off and then he took a week off after I came back to work... Anyway, yeah, he talked about how beautiful the areas around Mammoth was like... also encourtered a bear! It's totally different compared to winter times where we usually go to ski. Yosemite was quite gorgeous too! It's too bad the stupid immigrations office forced us to take a detour during our 'family vacation'. Otherwise we could've visited those areas ourselves!
Anyway, more devotional type things later, now, I have to get back to work! ;)
===================================================================
Part II
Okay, back home for now... read about Abraham, father of faith...
Romans 4
3 經 上 說 甚 麼 呢 ？ 說 ： 亞 伯 拉 罕 信 神 ， 這 就 算 為 他 的 義 。
4 做 工 的 得 工 價 ， 不 算 恩 典 ， 乃 是 該 得 的 ；
5 惟 有 不 做 工 的 ， 只 信 稱 罪 人 為 義 的 神 ， 他 的 信 就 算 為 義 。
We had faith in the Acura dealer, so we bought a car without actually first seeing it! ;) Of course if the Acura dealer screws us over by saying they're out of the car we want or if they jack up the price, our faith definitely would be in vain and wasted a long drive to Van Nuys. Just as if God is fake, then Abraham's faith would've been in vain! Anyway, it's kind interesting why God would see us as righteous by simply believing in Him. But of course real faith would follow by action too, such as Abraham actually did everything God told him to do.
Sure would be nice to be able to hear God, but I suppose I can start by just doing what He said in the Bible for now! ;) I think often we fail God is because our memory just sucks! I'm having the hardest time trying to remember what Pastor Jim said on Sunday... and my notes were left in the car and I'm too lazy to go get it now... Oh may the Lord have mercy on our soul! How can one reach some sort of balance in between? Surely we dont' want God nagging at us all the time, but if not, we might end up being forgetful? Abraham was sorta like that. As long as if God told him to do somethin, he'd do it. But if not, he'd often end up doing stupid things such as pretending his wife to be his sister... Oh God, help us do Your will better please! We want to be righteous like You, not just by faith!
(Genesis 15, 17, 22; Romans 4:1-5, 9-25)
PS- okay, finally got my notes, here are the points of Pastor Jim's sermon which I forgot!
1) your problems are not real problems, but how you see your problems can be a real problem!!!
2) focus your attention on what's important, focus your attention on God!!!
3) stay plugged in with the true vine, with the church!!!
4) to live if Christ, to die is gain(Phil 1:21) Live for God!!!
Friday, July 27, 2007
To Buy By Faith!!!
Having struck a gentleman's agreement on price over email with Keyes Acura, the sales manager David won't promise me that he'll keep the car ... (He wants me to get it off his lot as soon as possible!) Since he only has 2 more of the color we want... and knowing that I've negotiated a pretty good price at below invoice, I figured we should just go pick the car up right away!!!
The whole process still took longer than expected. David already left... and left Tala his secretary in charge to take care of me. But then by the time we get to Van Nuys, Tala has gone home too!!! So she left somebody else to take care of me... To make long story short, we were taken care of... by some new guy who doens't quite know what he's doing..., but at least he's nice.
We qualified for the special 2.9% financing and we even signed the contract and everything eventhough we haven't even "seen" our car yet!!! Now, that's buying by faith, right? ;)
Anyway, the car is great, we just need to figure out how to make all of its gadgets to work properly. I've never had a car this complicated before..., so it'll probably take a while for us to get to know 'her' better. Anyway, I prefer 'it' to be her. Hopefully my wife won't want to change its gender later on... ;)
Today's scripture reading is a bit longer... just as today's gonna be a longer day, working late in the office because I had to get to my insurance agent to get the new car insured and return the old Altima.
Noah for sure is a man with much MORE faith.
22 挪 亞 就 這 樣 行 。 凡 神 所 吩 咐 的 ， 他 都 照 樣 行 了 。
Wish I can be more like Noah. What would You like me to build? ;)
(Genesis 6:1-9:17)
The whole process still took longer than expected. David already left... and left Tala his secretary in charge to take care of me. But then by the time we get to Van Nuys, Tala has gone home too!!! So she left somebody else to take care of me... To make long story short, we were taken care of... by some new guy who doens't quite know what he's doing..., but at least he's nice.
We qualified for the special 2.9% financing and we even signed the contract and everything eventhough we haven't even "seen" our car yet!!! Now, that's buying by faith, right? ;)
Anyway, the car is great, we just need to figure out how to make all of its gadgets to work properly. I've never had a car this complicated before..., so it'll probably take a while for us to get to know 'her' better. Anyway, I prefer 'it' to be her. Hopefully my wife won't want to change its gender later on... ;)
Today's scripture reading is a bit longer... just as today's gonna be a longer day, working late in the office because I had to get to my insurance agent to get the new car insured and return the old Altima.
Noah for sure is a man with much MORE faith.
22 挪 亞 就 這 樣 行 。 凡 神 所 吩 咐 的 ， 他 都 照 樣 行 了 。
Wish I can be more like Noah. What would You like me to build? ;)
(Genesis 6:1-9:17)
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Just got a new TSX!!!
Internet sure makes things easy. Saved me gas money driving around to various dealerships and time spent haggling with the salesmen over price... It's much easier to haggle over email I suppose! ;)
Keys Acura at Van Nuy has just beaten the price of Sierra Acura near our home by several hundred dollars. Tax and license for new cars is about 11% of sales price. Typically for Toyota and Hondas, taking the car out the door for sticker price is probably pretty a good deal. At $28,000 out-the-door, I actually got the whole deal below sticker. Not really sure how great I could've done, but at least I didn't do too bad. ;) Bro recently bought the Corolla for mom and they actually paid the full sticker price out the door..., but corolla has a lot of different options..., unlike the TSX. Only option is the navigation system. Whereas Toyota offers gazillion options available. For sure the wood trim interior in a Corolla wasn't really all that necessary..., anyway, they should've left the haggling for me, but too bad I wasn't available... oh well. At least I save some money with our own car! ;)
Also, scripture reading is surprisingly short today also! Just 7 verses about Enoch! About how he walked with God... and then disappeared!!! Sounds very scary probably to most people! ;) Brother GD also talked about how we should walk and experience God's infinity mercy and grace last nite... Yes, LORD God Almighty, open the eyes of our hearts so that we may be able to truly see You and experience You and know You! Thank God for The Saving Xross! :)
(Genesis 5:18-24)
Keys Acura at Van Nuy has just beaten the price of Sierra Acura near our home by several hundred dollars. Tax and license for new cars is about 11% of sales price. Typically for Toyota and Hondas, taking the car out the door for sticker price is probably pretty a good deal. At $28,000 out-the-door, I actually got the whole deal below sticker. Not really sure how great I could've done, but at least I didn't do too bad. ;) Bro recently bought the Corolla for mom and they actually paid the full sticker price out the door..., but corolla has a lot of different options..., unlike the TSX. Only option is the navigation system. Whereas Toyota offers gazillion options available. For sure the wood trim interior in a Corolla wasn't really all that necessary..., anyway, they should've left the haggling for me, but too bad I wasn't available... oh well. At least I save some money with our own car! ;)
Also, scripture reading is surprisingly short today also! Just 7 verses about Enoch! About how he walked with God... and then disappeared!!! Sounds very scary probably to most people! ;) Brother GD also talked about how we should walk and experience God's infinity mercy and grace last nite... Yes, LORD God Almighty, open the eyes of our hearts so that we may be able to truly see You and experience You and know You! Thank God for The Saving Xross! :)
(Genesis 5:18-24)
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
The LOVE puppy!
This adorable Chihuahua has a heart shaped pattern on the side of his back! How cute is that?!
If only we humans can be born with whole lotta love inside too, then this world can probably be heaven on earth!!! ;) Today's scripture reading about Abel and Cain is kinda interesting. Does God really prefers fat over grains when it comes to offering? Why didn't poor Cain gain favor with God?
6 耶 和 華 對 該 隱 說 ： 你 為 甚 麼 發 怒 呢 ？ 你 為 甚 麼 變 了 臉 色 呢 ？
7 你 若 行 得 好 ， 豈 不 蒙 悅 納 ？ 你 若 行 得 不 好 ， 罪 就 伏 在 門 前 。 他 必 戀 慕 你 ， 你 卻 要 制 伏 他 。
What's in our hearts will eventually be unleashed into action. If good is in it, then let it out! However, if not, then we have to try hard to control it before awful mistakes are made as result. Cain didn't have it in his heart to love God nor his brother. (That's obviously why he killed Abel) And God in His infinite mercy and grace allowed him to live..., not sure exactly what happened to him in the end, but I hope he ended up like the prodigal son and repent of his prior mistakes.
Lord, please do continue to fill more of Your love and faithfullness in me and my wife. You're the only hope we have. Thanks! We pray in Jesus' name.
(Genesis 4:1-18)
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Sodas are bad bad bad...
Sodas -- even diet ones -- may be linked with increased risk factors for heart disease and diabetes
I suppose this is not really news for me... So I think I'm going to stop buying cokes... well I do still have 1 coupon for a free 2liter bottle... I'll just go exchange that one last one... technically still not buying! ;) Anyway, I'm not going to completely cut off sodas, I'll probably still buy some apple sodas or the root beer on occasions, but definitely nothing else for home consumption. As for restaraunts..., I guess I can maybe enjoy a soda once a week... and then slowly cut it off? Anyway, we'll see...
Last night I also had more discussions with the wife about the various troubles we're facing. It's good that our communication channel is still open, hopefully a more mutual understanding is reached... I think we have, but then again I'm never absolutely sure since I'm probably more clueless at times! ;) May God help me understand better and give me better communitcation skills and teach me to do the right things!!!
Was also reading about Eve and how humanity has fallen today..., it's really interesting how both Eve and Adam like to shift the blame to others. I guess we humans are truly their offsprings! ;) It's always somebody else's fault and never MY fault! I wonder what would've happened had Adam and Eve repented of their mistake upfront to God. Maybe things wouldn't have end up as badly.
May God help us to learn to forgive others' mistakes... and help us to not only to own up to our mistakes, but also to help us to truly repent and change our ways for the better. This is truly the hardest part... to change our own ways to do it God's way!
18 耶 和 華 神 說 ： 那 人 獨 居 不 好 ， 我 要 為 他 造 一 個 配 偶 幫 助 他 。
Thanks Lord God, for making a helper for me! I will do my best to love her and protect her from the serpent of the world, give me the ability to be able to kill that serpent whenever it's bothering my wife. If I'm not doing things right, please teach me how to do it Your way! Please stay close with us and fill us with Your unfailing love! I pray in Jesus' name. :)
(Genesis 2:18-3:24)
I suppose this is not really news for me... So I think I'm going to stop buying cokes... well I do still have 1 coupon for a free 2liter bottle... I'll just go exchange that one last one... technically still not buying! ;) Anyway, I'm not going to completely cut off sodas, I'll probably still buy some apple sodas or the root beer on occasions, but definitely nothing else for home consumption. As for restaraunts..., I guess I can maybe enjoy a soda once a week... and then slowly cut it off? Anyway, we'll see...
Last night I also had more discussions with the wife about the various troubles we're facing. It's good that our communication channel is still open, hopefully a more mutual understanding is reached... I think we have, but then again I'm never absolutely sure since I'm probably more clueless at times! ;) May God help me understand better and give me better communitcation skills and teach me to do the right things!!!
Was also reading about Eve and how humanity has fallen today..., it's really interesting how both Eve and Adam like to shift the blame to others. I guess we humans are truly their offsprings! ;) It's always somebody else's fault and never MY fault! I wonder what would've happened had Adam and Eve repented of their mistake upfront to God. Maybe things wouldn't have end up as badly.
May God help us to learn to forgive others' mistakes... and help us to not only to own up to our mistakes, but also to help us to truly repent and change our ways for the better. This is truly the hardest part... to change our own ways to do it God's way!
18 耶 和 華 神 說 ： 那 人 獨 居 不 好 ， 我 要 為 他 造 一 個 配 偶 幫 助 他 。
Thanks Lord God, for making a helper for me! I will do my best to love her and protect her from the serpent of the world, give me the ability to be able to kill that serpent whenever it's bothering my wife. If I'm not doing things right, please teach me how to do it Your way! Please stay close with us and fill us with Your unfailing love! I pray in Jesus' name. :)
(Genesis 2:18-3:24)
Monday, July 23, 2007
New Beginning...
2 weeks of vacation have gone by and I'm finally officially married! The hardwork in preparing that ceremony is now finally over!!! Yeah!!!!!! However, now it's time for the hardwork in preparing the marriage life itself so that we can truly have good testimonies for God!
Will managing our marriage get tiresome? I'm sure it will. Wife is already complaining about the demanding mother-in-law... and my demanding mom is also complaining why my new wife never comes home? What am I to do? I have no clue.
However, if God is with us, surely He will be graciously giving us whatever energy necessary to overcome our obsticles! Luckily so far, God has given me sufficient wisdom and ability to put out fires on both sides for now. I like Pastor Jim's sermon last Sunday... that we can be pressed, but not crushed; persecuted, but not abandoned; strucked down, but not destroyed! All I can do now is to continue to 'wait in the Lord'..., which according to Pastor Jim is not just sit there and wait and do nothing... but wait like waitors in restaraunts... waitors 'wait' on people is the same as 'serving'. I'll just have to continue to serve God, my wife, and my family who I care about the best way I know how. May the Lord my God continue to strengthen me and teach me how to do better! I am happy to see that the final outcome of these brush fires between wife and mom is that I'm able to set up Bible study times together with my parents so that we can all have a better and more godly quality time together! Yipee!!! :D
Anyway, lots of tragedies have happened all over the world..., from airline crashes to earthquakes... even a huge fire around our neighborhood, hope my wife's gown is alright... luckily the dry cleaners didn't get burn down... Anyway, I'm thankful that nothing horribly bad has happened to us..., may God continue to be gracious to us in this regard by protecting us from great harm...
I'm also ashamed to say that I haven't really been doing much devotional for the past 2 weeks. My spirit man is probably starving to death while my fleshy man has gained lots of weight. May God help me reverse the trend starting from today!!! ;)
So for the next few month, I'll start studying the important Bible characters... Adam is first on the list...
O God, please help me to be able to obey Your Word fully, I don't want to screw up like Adam did!!! Help us to be able to become truly a reflection of Your image and me a godly husband so that I can live as happily ever after as possible with my Eve? Thanks. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen!!! :)
26 神 說 ： 我 們 要 照 著 我 們 的 形 像 、 按 著 我 們 的 樣 式 造 人 ， 使 他 們 管 理 海 裡 的 魚 、 空 中 的 鳥 、 地 上 的 牲 畜 ， 和 全 地 ， 並 地 上 所 爬 的 一 切 昆 蟲 。
(Genesis 1:26-2:17)
Will managing our marriage get tiresome? I'm sure it will. Wife is already complaining about the demanding mother-in-law... and my demanding mom is also complaining why my new wife never comes home? What am I to do? I have no clue.
However, if God is with us, surely He will be graciously giving us whatever energy necessary to overcome our obsticles! Luckily so far, God has given me sufficient wisdom and ability to put out fires on both sides for now. I like Pastor Jim's sermon last Sunday... that we can be pressed, but not crushed; persecuted, but not abandoned; strucked down, but not destroyed! All I can do now is to continue to 'wait in the Lord'..., which according to Pastor Jim is not just sit there and wait and do nothing... but wait like waitors in restaraunts... waitors 'wait' on people is the same as 'serving'. I'll just have to continue to serve God, my wife, and my family who I care about the best way I know how. May the Lord my God continue to strengthen me and teach me how to do better! I am happy to see that the final outcome of these brush fires between wife and mom is that I'm able to set up Bible study times together with my parents so that we can all have a better and more godly quality time together! Yipee!!! :D
Anyway, lots of tragedies have happened all over the world..., from airline crashes to earthquakes... even a huge fire around our neighborhood, hope my wife's gown is alright... luckily the dry cleaners didn't get burn down... Anyway, I'm thankful that nothing horribly bad has happened to us..., may God continue to be gracious to us in this regard by protecting us from great harm...
I'm also ashamed to say that I haven't really been doing much devotional for the past 2 weeks. My spirit man is probably starving to death while my fleshy man has gained lots of weight. May God help me reverse the trend starting from today!!! ;)
So for the next few month, I'll start studying the important Bible characters... Adam is first on the list...
O God, please help me to be able to obey Your Word fully, I don't want to screw up like Adam did!!! Help us to be able to become truly a reflection of Your image and me a godly husband so that I can live as happily ever after as possible with my Eve? Thanks. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen!!! :)
26 神 說 ： 我 們 要 照 著 我 們 的 形 像 、 按 著 我 們 的 樣 式 造 人 ， 使 他 們 管 理 海 裡 的 魚 、 空 中 的 鳥 、 地 上 的 牲 畜 ， 和 全 地 ， 並 地 上 所 爬 的 一 切 昆 蟲 。
(Genesis 1:26-2:17)
Sunday, July 8, 2007
787
Today is my wedding day! Yeah!
Technically, we're already legally married, but we weren't too public about it before...
Lord, may everything goes well today! The final preparations, the ceremony, the reception, the weather... everything is in Your hand!!! Thank You for all You've provided for us!
Technically, we're already legally married, but we weren't too public about it before...
Lord, may everything goes well today! The final preparations, the ceremony, the reception, the weather... everything is in Your hand!!! Thank You for all You've provided for us!
Thursday, July 5, 2007
So much work and so little time...
I worked thru the holiday yesterday. There was one person with me at the office during July 4th and we both just quietly worked our way thru the day..., it was a productive day, but it seems the work is never ending. Unexpected things just keep on popping up..., hope I can square away as many things as possible before I take off for vacation.
Same goes with personal life... unexpected things just keep on happening... the latest is mom's accident. She does seem very edgy and nervous lately. With so many people around the house along with my wedding, I hope she'll be okay both physically and emotionally. Though she's not really a believer of Jesus, Lord, I beg you to have mercy on my mom and be with her... and to help her. Thank you for at least protecting mom and our guests from physical injuries I suppose. We will be picking up the in-law family tonite and will be taking a long trip for the couple of weeks to come, please be our guide and our guard too? Thank You! :)
Reading of the book of Revelation was quite interesting..., with so much symbolism, I wonder how will it really happen when Lord Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, comes back! Looking forward to Your wedding day Lord Jesus! :)
Revelation 19
7 我 們 要 歡 喜 快 樂 ， 將 榮 耀 歸 給 他 。 因 為 ， 羔 羊 婚 娶 的 時 候 到 了 ； 新 婦 也 自 己 預 備 好 了 ,
8 就 蒙 恩 得 穿 光 明 潔 白 的 細 麻 衣 。 這 細 麻 衣 就 是 聖 徒 所 行 的 義 。
9 天 使 吩 咐 我 說 ： 你 要 寫 上 ： 凡 被 請 赴 羔 羊 之 婚 筵 的 有 福 了 ！ 又 對 我 說 ： 這 是 神 真 實 的 話 。
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Hey Jude!
Too busy at work today... so I'll save the portion of Revelation for tomorrow to read. ;) Today however, I really like these verses from Jude.
17 親 愛 的 弟 兄 阿 ， 你 們 要 記 念 我 們 主 耶 穌 基 督 之 使 徒 從 前 所 說 的 話 。
18 他 們 曾 對 你 們 說 過 ， 末 世 必 有 好 譏 誚 的 人 隨 從 自 己 不 敬 虔 的 私 慾 而 行 。
19 這 就 是 那 些 引 人 結 黨 、 屬 乎 血 氣 、 沒 有 聖 靈 的 人 。
20 親 愛 的 弟 兄 阿 ， 你 們 卻 要 在 至 聖 的 真 道 上 造 就 自 己 ， 在 聖 靈 裡 禱 告 ，
21 保 守 自 己 常 在 神 的 愛 中 ， 仰 望 我 們 主 耶 穌 基 督 的 憐 憫 ， 直 到 永 生 。
22 有 些 人 存 疑 心 ， 你 們 要 憐 憫 他 們 ；
23 有 些 人 你 們 要 從 火 中 搶 出 來 ， 搭 救 他 們 ； 有 些 人 你 們 要 存 懼 怕 的 心 憐 憫 他 們 ， 連 那 被 情 慾 沾 染 的 衣 服 也 當 厭 惡 。
24 那 能 保 守 你 們 不 失 腳 、 叫 你 們 無 瑕 無 疵 、 歡 歡 喜 喜 站 在 他 榮 耀 之 前 的 我 們 的 救 主 ─ 獨 一 的 神 ，
25 願 榮 耀 、 威 嚴 、 能 力 、 權 柄 ， 因 我 們 的 主 耶 穌 基 督 歸 與 他 ， 從 萬 古 以 前 並 現 今 ， 直 到 永 永 遠 遠 。 阿 們 。
And Lord, wedding is fast approaching, please continue to instruct us and help us on how to make it an event that can also bring You glory! Please let Sunday be not so hot also..., please be with us... and maybe soften up a few hearts here and there so that more of our relatives and friends may have this eternal life which You so eagerly want us to have!!! Thanks!!! In Jesus' name!
(Jude)
Monday, July 2, 2007
Things that point us to the real thing!
Pastor Jim gave an interesting sermon on Sunday. He claimed to have gotten special revelation from God last week and absolutely had to give us this special sermon before he moves on to his next series of sermons. I forgot exactly what was his main point or the title of his sermon..., but I do kinda remember the main points.
1) Whatever we do, make sure to put God on the top of your priority list. (This is consistent with what bro GD was telling us just last wednesday!)
2) Be persistent, don't give up!
3) Be specific and bold about your request!
4) Be positive, even when circumstances look bad. Have faith!
Anyway, basically he's just saying that most 'things' that happen in our lives or perhaps even miracles are simply 'things' that point to a greater 'Thing'. We ought not to lose focus and start enjoying these little 'things' and forget about the big 'THING'!
For example getting married..., it's not just to get a legal status..., it's not just to be able to live happily ever after with each other..., but surely God gave us these "things" for a greater purpose. At the very minimum, our marriage ought to be able to give the world a good testimony of our God! People around us ought to be able to feel that God given love and joy or something. ;)
Pastor Jim also talked about how the apostles were able to sing praises to God in jail... in the dark, even after being severely flogged!!!
Will I be able to do that?
Will my wife be able to do that with me in toubled times?
Planning a wedding with so much details to cover with so little time can become a 'troublesome' time sometimes... ;)
But thanks be to our God that we were able to create one heck of a DVD! We were also able to finalize our guest/table lists... things are slowly but surly coming together!
And even if something does NOT come perfectly together... so what?
The most important THING is for us to be able enjoy this once in a life time event... and don't allow satan to stress us out un-necessarily. We ought to try our best to cover all the basics... and for things that we couldn't do... or have forgotten to do or whatever..., may the Lord our God provide for us. Just as He provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead of sacrificing his son..., just as Jesus made water to wine... when wine ran out at a wedding!!! :)
I also told the love of my life that we ought to start practicing singing or at least playing instruments to our God on a daily basis. Pick whatever songs she enjoys... and if she can't find any, then write a new song for our God. We are going to do this not to sell any CDs... or not to perform infront of human audience, but to simply sing praises and thanks to the PERSON that's of the Most importance.
May God be with us... and may we become not only His beloved son and daughter, but also be well pleased by Him! :)
2 John
6 我 們 若 照 他 的 命 令 行 ， 這 就 是 愛 。 你 們 從 起 初 所 聽 見 當 行 的 ， 就 是 這 命 令 。
(1 John 1-2,2 John,3 John)
1) Whatever we do, make sure to put God on the top of your priority list. (This is consistent with what bro GD was telling us just last wednesday!)
2) Be persistent, don't give up!
3) Be specific and bold about your request!
4) Be positive, even when circumstances look bad. Have faith!
Anyway, basically he's just saying that most 'things' that happen in our lives or perhaps even miracles are simply 'things' that point to a greater 'Thing'. We ought not to lose focus and start enjoying these little 'things' and forget about the big 'THING'!
For example getting married..., it's not just to get a legal status..., it's not just to be able to live happily ever after with each other..., but surely God gave us these "things" for a greater purpose. At the very minimum, our marriage ought to be able to give the world a good testimony of our God! People around us ought to be able to feel that God given love and joy or something. ;)
Pastor Jim also talked about how the apostles were able to sing praises to God in jail... in the dark, even after being severely flogged!!!
Will I be able to do that?
Will my wife be able to do that with me in toubled times?
Planning a wedding with so much details to cover with so little time can become a 'troublesome' time sometimes... ;)
But thanks be to our God that we were able to create one heck of a DVD! We were also able to finalize our guest/table lists... things are slowly but surly coming together!
And even if something does NOT come perfectly together... so what?
The most important THING is for us to be able enjoy this once in a life time event... and don't allow satan to stress us out un-necessarily. We ought to try our best to cover all the basics... and for things that we couldn't do... or have forgotten to do or whatever..., may the Lord our God provide for us. Just as He provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead of sacrificing his son..., just as Jesus made water to wine... when wine ran out at a wedding!!! :)
I also told the love of my life that we ought to start practicing singing or at least playing instruments to our God on a daily basis. Pick whatever songs she enjoys... and if she can't find any, then write a new song for our God. We are going to do this not to sell any CDs... or not to perform infront of human audience, but to simply sing praises and thanks to the PERSON that's of the Most importance.
May God be with us... and may we become not only His beloved son and daughter, but also be well pleased by Him! :)
2 John
6 我 們 若 照 他 的 命 令 行 ， 這 就 是 愛 。 你 們 從 起 初 所 聽 見 當 行 的 ， 就 是 這 命 令 。
(1 John 1-2,2 John,3 John)
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