My Authority Over Earth (& In Heaven)
My relatives and some friends know that I do not agree with New Age stuff especially Feng Shui. :) Some of my family members have told me; "Feng Shui is not a religion...", well I absolutely agree that Feng Shui is non-religious. "Then why is that you disagree in practising Feng Shui?" you ask?
To answer this question, I have to go all the way back to Adam & Eve (yup, the first humans to roam the earth). As it was said in the Bible, Adam & Eve sinned and was kicked out of the Garden of Eden. But 'how' did they sin, is what I would like to focus on. Both Adam & Eve fell into the temptation of the serpent a.k.a. satan, and in the book of Genesis; the devil took the persona of the serpent to illustrate that man lost the authority that God originally gave him - to a mere animal (a creature which is initially under the dominion of man). Therefore, the authority of mankind over all the earth has been lost to satan. Which means that all these new age stuff like astrology, geomancy (feng shui), palmistry, etc.. might really work! Because man has now been subjected to the earth.
BUT the good news is: Jesus came and won over all authority over the earth from satan. Plus all authority in heaven has been given to Him also! (Matthew 28:18) So as a Christian, I too have the authority over the earth and in heaven because of the fact that I am IN Christ! Which also translates that I am no longer subjected to the earth because the One I am truly subjected to is Jesus Christ!
So when a Christian practices Feng Shui or any other New Age stuff, they are actually going back to be a 'captive' of the earth again! Think about it, why would I want other ways to 'improve' my life here on earth, when I can have Jesus who turns my life around and gives me everlasting life? ;)
As Jesus said: "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (John 14:14) If you would like to be free from 'captivity', so that you can be free in Christ, ask Him and He will do it. :)
Jesus, I trust in You.
Peace <><
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Thursday, March 18, 2004
My Life with God
God is so unpredictable. And I am so amazed of His ingenuity and in awe of His power. Life with God is like having your puzzle pieces (which you never thought could fit) put together to show a bigger picture. And that is how my life with God is. There are many incidents in my life that one could never imagine God having a part of it and when I put all these incidents together - I see the whole picture. I see His plan for me, but of course not THE complete plan. Why? Simply because I am not God. But I put my trust in Him that He wants the best for me. :) As what they always say, "God writes straight with crooked lines"
I love Psalm 139 because it relates to some points of my life which I have tried to hide from Him by excluding Him from my life, but He found me and welcomed me back to His kingdom. Praise God. :)
-----
PSALM 139
O LORD , you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD .
You hem me in-behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD ,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
-----
Lord I love You. Keep me close to You always.
Amen.
God is so unpredictable. And I am so amazed of His ingenuity and in awe of His power. Life with God is like having your puzzle pieces (which you never thought could fit) put together to show a bigger picture. And that is how my life with God is. There are many incidents in my life that one could never imagine God having a part of it and when I put all these incidents together - I see the whole picture. I see His plan for me, but of course not THE complete plan. Why? Simply because I am not God. But I put my trust in Him that He wants the best for me. :) As what they always say, "God writes straight with crooked lines"
I love Psalm 139 because it relates to some points of my life which I have tried to hide from Him by excluding Him from my life, but He found me and welcomed me back to His kingdom. Praise God. :)
-----
PSALM 139
O LORD , you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD .
You hem me in-behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD ,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
-----
Lord I love You. Keep me close to You always.
Amen.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
My Devotion to Mary
As a Catholic, I was taught that Mother Mary is the Mother of Our Lord and we should give her honour and respect. But I have this issue on asking Mary for her intercession, because I have seen other Catholics (especially from the older generation) attribute too much credit to her and it really bugs me to see Catholics bowing to statues of her and touching & kissing these stone images, as though she is truly present there! Therefore I have decided to keep a "safe distance" away from her, in terms of devotion (e.g. praying the rosary, scapulars, etc...)
I remembered I told Adrian many times before on this issue of mine, and praise God today he helped me gained a deeper understanding on the Marian devotion...
----
In the book of Genesis 3:15 ("And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."), we see that the bible talks about God putting enmity between the seed of the woman and the serpent (which is satan). The seed of the woman refers to Jesus and that makes the woman: the Blessed Virgin Mary. In Romans 16:20; we see a reference to the verse in Genesis, which says that "the God of peace will soon crush satan underneath our feet". When we link this verse with the one in Genesis; we can conclude that we too are offsprings of the woman.. And in John 19:26-28 ("When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty."), after Jesus introduced His disciple into a mother-son relationship with His mother, only then He knew everything is accomplished, and we must remember that Jesus was not being rude to His mother when he used the term "woman", rather He just wants us to refer this term to Genesis. And if we put all these pieces of puzzle together, we can see that Our Lord Jesus' will is for us to recognize His mother as our own because it is with her that our Faith is complete (refer to John 19:28)! Everytime when we receive the Eucharist, we are in Christ and Christ is in us, and that makes us all the more the offspring of the woman because we are in Christ!
With that in mind, I came to the conclusion that the Blessed Virgin is truly my spiritual mother, and it is important for me to take responsibilty to give her due honour and respect as it is written in the 10 Commandments (Honour your father and your mother) and what better way to give your mum honour and respect than to show the world, your prayers are answered through the intercession of your mum! Some of you might say, "Why go through the intercession of Mary? Why don't you pray to the Lord without a middle-woman?". Well, my answer to these questions is plain and simple. Jesus loves His Mother and He wants us to recognize the holiness of His mother. So how can we recognize the holiness of His mother? As the Bible says,"...The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." (James 5:16), therefore when your prayers are answered you can be sure that the Blessed Virgin interceded for you. :) And that logic applies also to the saints. ;)
My point is, contrary to the popular Protestant belief: Mother Mary is more than a vessel to bear Jesus Christ. She IS the Ark of the Covenant that contained the Bread of Life (Jesus)! In the Old Testament, God instructed His people to build the Ark of the Covenant (which contained a jar of manna, Aaron's staff and the stone tablets) with much detail and precision; what more in the New Testament where the "Ark of The Covenant" will contain the Bread of Life? Therefore, Mother Mary is made full of grace (simply means that there is so much grace that sin cannot find a place in her) as a preparation for the coming of God's beloved Son.
Love Jesus, Love Mary.
Peace <><
As a Catholic, I was taught that Mother Mary is the Mother of Our Lord and we should give her honour and respect. But I have this issue on asking Mary for her intercession, because I have seen other Catholics (especially from the older generation) attribute too much credit to her and it really bugs me to see Catholics bowing to statues of her and touching & kissing these stone images, as though she is truly present there! Therefore I have decided to keep a "safe distance" away from her, in terms of devotion (e.g. praying the rosary, scapulars, etc...)
I remembered I told Adrian many times before on this issue of mine, and praise God today he helped me gained a deeper understanding on the Marian devotion...
----
In the book of Genesis 3:15 ("And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."), we see that the bible talks about God putting enmity between the seed of the woman and the serpent (which is satan). The seed of the woman refers to Jesus and that makes the woman: the Blessed Virgin Mary. In Romans 16:20; we see a reference to the verse in Genesis, which says that "the God of peace will soon crush satan underneath our feet". When we link this verse with the one in Genesis; we can conclude that we too are offsprings of the woman.. And in John 19:26-28 ("When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty."), after Jesus introduced His disciple into a mother-son relationship with His mother, only then He knew everything is accomplished, and we must remember that Jesus was not being rude to His mother when he used the term "woman", rather He just wants us to refer this term to Genesis. And if we put all these pieces of puzzle together, we can see that Our Lord Jesus' will is for us to recognize His mother as our own because it is with her that our Faith is complete (refer to John 19:28)! Everytime when we receive the Eucharist, we are in Christ and Christ is in us, and that makes us all the more the offspring of the woman because we are in Christ!
With that in mind, I came to the conclusion that the Blessed Virgin is truly my spiritual mother, and it is important for me to take responsibilty to give her due honour and respect as it is written in the 10 Commandments (Honour your father and your mother) and what better way to give your mum honour and respect than to show the world, your prayers are answered through the intercession of your mum! Some of you might say, "Why go through the intercession of Mary? Why don't you pray to the Lord without a middle-woman?". Well, my answer to these questions is plain and simple. Jesus loves His Mother and He wants us to recognize the holiness of His mother. So how can we recognize the holiness of His mother? As the Bible says,"...The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." (James 5:16), therefore when your prayers are answered you can be sure that the Blessed Virgin interceded for you. :) And that logic applies also to the saints. ;)
My point is, contrary to the popular Protestant belief: Mother Mary is more than a vessel to bear Jesus Christ. She IS the Ark of the Covenant that contained the Bread of Life (Jesus)! In the Old Testament, God instructed His people to build the Ark of the Covenant (which contained a jar of manna, Aaron's staff and the stone tablets) with much detail and precision; what more in the New Testament where the "Ark of The Covenant" will contain the Bread of Life? Therefore, Mother Mary is made full of grace (simply means that there is so much grace that sin cannot find a place in her) as a preparation for the coming of God's beloved Son.
Love Jesus, Love Mary.
Peace <><
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
My Encounter at the Overhead Bridge
Was at Library today and at 1535hours, I received Jo's email on core and cell group leaders meeting tonight at 8PM and I felt really tired and lazy to go because my trials is in a weeks time, plus I know Jo would understand. :) So at 1700hours or so, I was at home in my room chilling out: surfing the net and resting on the floor because I had not washed up yet (not comfortable sleeping on my bed with a stinky and sweaty body) hehe. So as I chilled out, time passed... and it's already 1830hours and there is this urge in me to go to the meeting, and I attribute this "urge" to the Holy Spirit; who prompts me often to do the right thing. :)
After some prompting by the Holy Spirit, I decided; "Yes, Lord I will go".. well I didn't actually said that, but I felt that way. ;) I switch off my laptop, the power socket and the lights & fan, grab my bag of leftover Gardenia wholemeal bread and went on my way to SS2 to take the Bus #12. As I was chomping down on my leftover bread.. I was having this naughty thought: "What happens if I throw bread on the cars from the top overhead bridge?"... but of course I did not realise this stupid thought of mine. :P
Anyway, as I was walking up the steps of the overhead bridge, which by the way connects Damansara Jaya to SS2. At the far end of the bridge, I see a wanderer. He looks really haggard, with long hair and tattered clothes, and he looks like he's from either Myanmar or Vietnam and I remembered I saw him a few days back along the streets of SS2; in front of Salvation. I was kinda afraid at first... because who knows? he might mug me! But then I felt pity for him. My right hand clutched the bag with remainding 2 pieces of bread and the Spirit prompted me to offer him this bread. But I had mixed feelings... a bit of shyness and fear, and as I walk up to him my mind is making a decision on whether to give the bread or to just leave it for myself.
I reached the end of the bridge and I was just next to him. It was as though the fear and the shyness had gone and my right hand stretched out to him with the bag of bread, offering it as a sign of good will. He looked at me with confusion and held on to the bread. It was all silent communication, because I do not know what language he speaks. I nodded my head twice to let him know that this bread is a sign of good will from me and he accepted it. :)
I turned and I walked down the steps to the streets of SS2, towards the bus stop.
------
I contemplated on what had happened and I felt that whatever that happened was truly not by chance but by God's choosing. I don't usually buy bread and keep it overnight and at that point of time, I really did not feel like going for the meeting, but I went anyway. Consider this: If I had not decided to come for the meeting, the man would not have received the bread and probably go hungry. I strongly believe all this is the work of God.
The Lord reminded me that I am truly blessed and I have all that I need and all that I want and need should be HIM only. The Lord also put me in the man's shoes and made me realised that this person really needs help and I should do my part in helping him. And also there are many others like him that needs the care and concern of the society, even though they are aliens. And yes, I was feeling rather guilty from that thought of throwing bread from the top of the overhead bridge, when there are multitudes who need to be fed.
Let us ask ourselves, do we feel blessed? Or are we lamenting to God for not giving us a "better" life? Look at the lives of others & then see how much better off you are. St. Peter (our first pope) once said to the crippled beggar "I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you.." (Acts 3:6) Now, are we ready to say this to the less fortunate around us?
Peace <><
Was at Library today and at 1535hours, I received Jo's email on core and cell group leaders meeting tonight at 8PM and I felt really tired and lazy to go because my trials is in a weeks time, plus I know Jo would understand. :) So at 1700hours or so, I was at home in my room chilling out: surfing the net and resting on the floor because I had not washed up yet (not comfortable sleeping on my bed with a stinky and sweaty body) hehe. So as I chilled out, time passed... and it's already 1830hours and there is this urge in me to go to the meeting, and I attribute this "urge" to the Holy Spirit; who prompts me often to do the right thing. :)
After some prompting by the Holy Spirit, I decided; "Yes, Lord I will go".. well I didn't actually said that, but I felt that way. ;) I switch off my laptop, the power socket and the lights & fan, grab my bag of leftover Gardenia wholemeal bread and went on my way to SS2 to take the Bus #12. As I was chomping down on my leftover bread.. I was having this naughty thought: "What happens if I throw bread on the cars from the top overhead bridge?"... but of course I did not realise this stupid thought of mine. :P
Anyway, as I was walking up the steps of the overhead bridge, which by the way connects Damansara Jaya to SS2. At the far end of the bridge, I see a wanderer. He looks really haggard, with long hair and tattered clothes, and he looks like he's from either Myanmar or Vietnam and I remembered I saw him a few days back along the streets of SS2; in front of Salvation. I was kinda afraid at first... because who knows? he might mug me! But then I felt pity for him. My right hand clutched the bag with remainding 2 pieces of bread and the Spirit prompted me to offer him this bread. But I had mixed feelings... a bit of shyness and fear, and as I walk up to him my mind is making a decision on whether to give the bread or to just leave it for myself.
I reached the end of the bridge and I was just next to him. It was as though the fear and the shyness had gone and my right hand stretched out to him with the bag of bread, offering it as a sign of good will. He looked at me with confusion and held on to the bread. It was all silent communication, because I do not know what language he speaks. I nodded my head twice to let him know that this bread is a sign of good will from me and he accepted it. :)
I turned and I walked down the steps to the streets of SS2, towards the bus stop.
------
I contemplated on what had happened and I felt that whatever that happened was truly not by chance but by God's choosing. I don't usually buy bread and keep it overnight and at that point of time, I really did not feel like going for the meeting, but I went anyway. Consider this: If I had not decided to come for the meeting, the man would not have received the bread and probably go hungry. I strongly believe all this is the work of God.
The Lord reminded me that I am truly blessed and I have all that I need and all that I want and need should be HIM only. The Lord also put me in the man's shoes and made me realised that this person really needs help and I should do my part in helping him. And also there are many others like him that needs the care and concern of the society, even though they are aliens. And yes, I was feeling rather guilty from that thought of throwing bread from the top of the overhead bridge, when there are multitudes who need to be fed.
Let us ask ourselves, do we feel blessed? Or are we lamenting to God for not giving us a "better" life? Look at the lives of others & then see how much better off you are. St. Peter (our first pope) once said to the crippled beggar "I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you.." (Acts 3:6) Now, are we ready to say this to the less fortunate around us?
Peace <><
Monday, March 15, 2004
My 'Solomon'
King Solomon (Book of 1st Kings 1: - 11:43) was probably one of the famous bible characters of all time. Solomon asked God for wisdom and God made him the wisest person to ever lived at that time (1Kings 3:12) ;) Solomon had very successful international trade and his kingdom is blessed with a treasury of riches. Solomon used his gift from God to rule his kingdom and also to show others the goodness of the Lord; so that people from other nations may come and worship the Lord.
Solomon sinned against God by marrying foreign women (700 wives and 300 concubines) who worship strange gods. And these wives and concubines of his "imported" their ideas into his kingdom and built shrines all and around Israel; what's worse: Solomon helped built them. So you see, instead of being faithful to the Lord, Solomon's heart turned to these strange gods which provide only temporary satisfaction. And because of Solomon's folly, God decides to punish him by dividing his kingdom - which is another story ;)
Although Solomon was the wisest man around at that time but I guess he was not wise enough to choose God over all things. And we can probably ask ourselves, have we been in that situation of having to choose God among all things but failed to choose Him? We have a part of 'Solomon' in our lives, which rationalizes the sins which we are going to commit. The 'Solomon' in us might say, "Well... God loves me sooOoo much He understands" or "Since I have committed a serious sin and have to go for Confession, I'll indulge myself in sin and commit another then; so that I can confess all of those once and for all" or this which I have heard before from fellow Catholics, "It's OK. Geomancy (Feng Shui) is not a religion, and it's OK to practice it because it has been deemed as 'science' anyway! [Note: another topic I shall blog for another day ;) ]"
If the 'Solomon' in us speaks of these things... well, I guess 'Solomon' is not very wise after all. I believe it is important for us to evaluate ourselves at the end of the day, to see whether what we have done have brought us closer to God or further away from Him.
Solomon was no doubt the wisest man and his folly is probably because he was too tied up in ruling his earthly kingdom that he failed to see what was more important. In comparison, Jesus knew his priorities, and told his disciples to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and told them by doing this, all things shall be added later (Matthew 6:33).
Let us replace the 'Solomon' in us with JESUS, for He is the wisest of all. And let us ask Jesus for more of His wisdom, that we may make choices that are according to His will.
<>< Peace.
King Solomon (Book of 1st Kings 1: - 11:43) was probably one of the famous bible characters of all time. Solomon asked God for wisdom and God made him the wisest person to ever lived at that time (1Kings 3:12) ;) Solomon had very successful international trade and his kingdom is blessed with a treasury of riches. Solomon used his gift from God to rule his kingdom and also to show others the goodness of the Lord; so that people from other nations may come and worship the Lord.
Solomon sinned against God by marrying foreign women (700 wives and 300 concubines) who worship strange gods. And these wives and concubines of his "imported" their ideas into his kingdom and built shrines all and around Israel; what's worse: Solomon helped built them. So you see, instead of being faithful to the Lord, Solomon's heart turned to these strange gods which provide only temporary satisfaction. And because of Solomon's folly, God decides to punish him by dividing his kingdom - which is another story ;)
Although Solomon was the wisest man around at that time but I guess he was not wise enough to choose God over all things. And we can probably ask ourselves, have we been in that situation of having to choose God among all things but failed to choose Him? We have a part of 'Solomon' in our lives, which rationalizes the sins which we are going to commit. The 'Solomon' in us might say, "Well... God loves me sooOoo much He understands" or "Since I have committed a serious sin and have to go for Confession, I'll indulge myself in sin and commit another then; so that I can confess all of those once and for all" or this which I have heard before from fellow Catholics, "It's OK. Geomancy (Feng Shui) is not a religion, and it's OK to practice it because it has been deemed as 'science' anyway! [Note: another topic I shall blog for another day ;) ]"
If the 'Solomon' in us speaks of these things... well, I guess 'Solomon' is not very wise after all. I believe it is important for us to evaluate ourselves at the end of the day, to see whether what we have done have brought us closer to God or further away from Him.
Solomon was no doubt the wisest man and his folly is probably because he was too tied up in ruling his earthly kingdom that he failed to see what was more important. In comparison, Jesus knew his priorities, and told his disciples to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and told them by doing this, all things shall be added later (Matthew 6:33).
Let us replace the 'Solomon' in us with JESUS, for He is the wisest of all. And let us ask Jesus for more of His wisdom, that we may make choices that are according to His will.
<>< Peace.
Sunday, March 14, 2004
My Nature of Rebellion
Every one of us here has a rebellious nature, which is a result of Adam's (& also Eve's) first sin. For those who do not know, Adam & Eve were disobedient towards God by eating the forbidden fruit, thus they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. The sin that Adam & Eve committed was not only mere disobedience; rather it was disobedience with a tinge of rebellion. Why? Well, Eve was told by the serpent (satan) that by eating the fruit they can be like God, knowing what's good and bad. Well, what the serpent said was half-true. Adam & Eve can certainly distinguish what is good and what is bad, but they did not become God. In exchange with this knowledge they lost eternal life.
Man is obsessed in creating "living creatures" (e.g. AIBO; the robot dog) that bear their copyright and I am quite surprised that many are amazed at the "advancement" of technology but often take for granted the truly amazing creatures around us that God has made, which is - us. As we can see, the obsession of creating "living creatures" has now become the obsession of creating live human replicas (cloning). One of the early objectives of cloning is to "live forever" (which means the person's clone continues to live the life of the person, doing what he did when he was alive). The irony is the first humans lost eternal life because they wanted to be like God and now eons later we are trying to "live forever" by trying to be like God. As the proverb goes,"the leopard never changes its spots".
It is not only the genetic engineers that are trying to be God; we too are god-wannabes... which is to be the god of our ownselves, because we desire things of the flesh (lust) and most of the time we believe we can do all things - but without first seeking the help from God. And the result of our own agenda of being who we want to be (instead of asking what God wants us to be) is either failure or emptiness. You see we have a God-shaped hole in all of us, and only God can fill that hole; so as long as we don't put God in our lives, we will be empty.
Jesus is constantly inviting us to come to Him, so that He can fill this emptiness in our hearts. Accept His invitation, by recognizing yourself as a sinner and truly believe that God has raised Him from the dead and He is now the Lord of your life - and you will be saved (Romans 10:9) and inherit eternal life. Although "the leopard never changes its spots" but through baptism we die to ourselves and are leopards no more because we have renounce our sinful ways and has begun a new life which is aim towards holiness.
<><
Every one of us here has a rebellious nature, which is a result of Adam's (& also Eve's) first sin. For those who do not know, Adam & Eve were disobedient towards God by eating the forbidden fruit, thus they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. The sin that Adam & Eve committed was not only mere disobedience; rather it was disobedience with a tinge of rebellion. Why? Well, Eve was told by the serpent (satan) that by eating the fruit they can be like God, knowing what's good and bad. Well, what the serpent said was half-true. Adam & Eve can certainly distinguish what is good and what is bad, but they did not become God. In exchange with this knowledge they lost eternal life.
Man is obsessed in creating "living creatures" (e.g. AIBO; the robot dog) that bear their copyright and I am quite surprised that many are amazed at the "advancement" of technology but often take for granted the truly amazing creatures around us that God has made, which is - us. As we can see, the obsession of creating "living creatures" has now become the obsession of creating live human replicas (cloning). One of the early objectives of cloning is to "live forever" (which means the person's clone continues to live the life of the person, doing what he did when he was alive). The irony is the first humans lost eternal life because they wanted to be like God and now eons later we are trying to "live forever" by trying to be like God. As the proverb goes,"the leopard never changes its spots".
It is not only the genetic engineers that are trying to be God; we too are god-wannabes... which is to be the god of our ownselves, because we desire things of the flesh (lust) and most of the time we believe we can do all things - but without first seeking the help from God. And the result of our own agenda of being who we want to be (instead of asking what God wants us to be) is either failure or emptiness. You see we have a God-shaped hole in all of us, and only God can fill that hole; so as long as we don't put God in our lives, we will be empty.
Jesus is constantly inviting us to come to Him, so that He can fill this emptiness in our hearts. Accept His invitation, by recognizing yourself as a sinner and truly believe that God has raised Him from the dead and He is now the Lord of your life - and you will be saved (Romans 10:9) and inherit eternal life. Although "the leopard never changes its spots" but through baptism we die to ourselves and are leopards no more because we have renounce our sinful ways and has begun a new life which is aim towards holiness.
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Friday, March 12, 2004
My New Blog Layout
Finally, my blog has been revamped! *Phew* took me hours to complete the revamping process! Praise God that it's up and running and ready to go! I have also added a comments thingie, right at the bottom of every post, so that you guys can voice your views! Please tell me what you think of this blog, ya? Anyway, I got to go now, really tired after all that revamping ;)
Peace. <><
Finally, my blog has been revamped! *Phew* took me hours to complete the revamping process! Praise God that it's up and running and ready to go! I have also added a comments thingie, right at the bottom of every post, so that you guys can voice your views! Please tell me what you think of this blog, ya? Anyway, I got to go now, really tired after all that revamping ;)
Peace. <><
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