24 July 2007 – Bless for Good

1 Peter 3:9

Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.

Since we are young, we often heard the seniors said that we should pay the people back for what they deserve. Retaliation often seems common to the people around us.

We shouldn’t be this way, we should have pay them back with blessings, because doing such is just like placing a burning coal on the head of that person! They will feel the burden, they will feel embarrassed for doing such, rather than feeling angry and furious about your revenge.

God also promised us that for the people who pay others back for blessings, he will bless us for it. Isn’t it wonderful? Sometimes we should practice our endurance and patience, for the people who successfully conquer their hearts then they could conquer the cities.

It is true, isn’t it?

Franco

23 July 2007 - Living Testimonial

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1 Peter 2:12
Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

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Many times we heard that we Christians have to share their own testimonial about knowing Christ, and the Great Commission that Jesus gave us is to evangelize the whole world with the Word of God and baptize them in Holy Trinity. By doing this, the commencing step is that we should realize that we should have a good testimonial to others.

Now, what is meant by testimonial? It is a kind of living and experience that one occupies exclusively, most of the time we share our testimonial to someone, did you find that it is rather hard for them to believe? They still didn't have the faith that is without sight, so, 'seeing is believing' is correct for them. God knows this, so he gave us a great instruction.

We should show a good testimonial in front of people. The testimonial is living and it should be transmitted more effective by means of action instead of verbally. It is true, so when we are living with our unbeliever friends, we should have a good example to them, for they will be more convinced when they see the change in your very own body rather than hearing you talking about it again and again.

It is true, undeniable, should be accepted. As a result, a final question is being presented on you: "Do you have a good testimonial in front of people?" Or "What is your testimonial in Christ that you can share with others and let others see?"

Franco

Faith without Sight

22 July 2007 – Faith without Sight

1 Peter 8

You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.

Faith, once revisited, has a great impact in our lives. Everyone here includes you and I have faith everyday we live. The wonderful thing about faith is that faith trusts something without seeing it. We often heard that the phrase ‘Seeing is believing’, which isn’t true for all cases, think about it. If you believe after you see it, can it be said as believing? Instead, it is knowing, not believing.

Faith is something that you believe its outcome will be before it is happening, and then you wait for its outcome. Faith is the faith without sight, it does not involve seeing. It is the same when applying to our faith in Christ, have you seen Christ being crucified on the spot? I bet no one of you have seen it. But why do you believe it? It is your faith!

Hebrew 11:1

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

All of us living with this kind of faith, no matter you agree the statement ‘seeing is believing’ or not. From young to old, boy and girls, all of us, who are living now, has faith in things they use, the person they trust, etc.

In Christ, we trust him, even though we never seen him, and yet we can have rejoice in glorious and inexpressible joy! This is the point, once we catch this, we can continue our journey of faith with great endurance and great power, great experiences!

Fasten your seat belt! The journey of faith will be commencing in… 10..9..8…..3..2..1… GO!!!

Franco

Extraordinary in Ordinary

21 July 2007 – Extraordinary in Ordinary

James 5:16-17

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years!

We could find no difficulty in believing that we are ordinary people in this world, we are as ordinary as others, we are the same. What makes us different is that we trusted in an Extraordinary God!

Today, I would like to share about prayers. Friends, do you trust in the power of prayer? Perhaps the answer varies, but for me, prayer has a great power, and I have experienced it before! Some of you might say, “it is no use in praying so much, so far nothing that I prayed happened. God is not listening!” Is it true that this statement say what it belongs? CERTAINLY NOT!

God is hearing everything we said, seeing everything we do, reading everything we think. If you encounter with some experiences like above, the major problem is not always on God’s side, it is on our own.

(1) Did we pray earnestly? Or you just pray once and make this judgment?

(2) Did you really believe on what you asking? If you ask in an attitude of testing, then the power is not there!

James told us that, the power of the prayer of the earnest prayer of a righteous person is GREAT and produces WONDERFUL results. (James 5:6) Friends, did you heard of the story of Elijah before?

1 Kings 17:1
[ Elijah Fed by Ravens ] Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!”

Elijah was the same like us, he is a human, an ordinary people! But he trusted an extraordinary God! He prayed earnestly for the rain to stop, then it stops! Yes, you can, too! You are no different than Elijah!

Franco

Words with Actions

20 July 2007 – Words with Actions

James 4:17

Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

Words come with actions. What I learnt today is that you have to do what you say, not just boasting about it. In a surprise that I realized that this is a sin (James 4:17), it is very unpleasant to others that when you promised someone something and you are not able to do it. For me, this kind of person is very annoying, I really can’t stand this kind of people, some people just don’t tell you what they really want instead of procrastinating.

Since, God is a promising and faithful God of us, He will sure hate this kind of people. It is true that God loves all the people in the world, but He hates their guts! Just like your father love you very much, but he doesn’t like your guts in talking to other people, or he hates your attitude in dealing with circumstances, etc.

Self-confidence is good, without self confidence, we can’t achieve anything successful. So it is true that if we want to do something, self confidence is the key; But then, what if self confidence is too excessive? Of course, it will make things the other way round. God understands this, so he taught us that we should be have faith in God rather in self, this is important! Notice this:

James 4:3

And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

Friends, motives are important! Get your motives right and focus all the things towards God, he will give us what we want and what we don’t have!

Franco

Commence a Good Pace

19 July 2007 –Commence a Good Pace

James 3: 18

And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.^[d]

You will reap what you sow. Do keep this in mind, you will get back the consequences for you have done it before. It is true, nothing can stop this principle:

Galatians 6:7

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.

This is a principle that has been made up since the world began. In these few days, God had taught me a lot through his apostle James, as this book emphasizing more action than boasting. For God has given us one mouth but two hands, what does this represents? It represents that we should act out more than we say out! Isn’t it wonderful?

In everything, you will reap what you sow before, so it is important and significant that we should make a start move right! If the first step is wrong, then the following will be disasters and found difficulty in fixing. This principle is the same when we solve mathematics problems. The process is rather important than the answer, but when the starting pace is incorrect, even the answer is correct (normally results by cheating… =.=|||), the whole problem gives no mark.

It is the same with our mouth, good things and bad things cannot be mixed together, so it is unreasonable that blessing and curse comes from the same mouth! Our mouth should not become a ‘cocktail’ of bless & curse! We should all say out the good things, blessings, so that we could reap the harvest that we had sowed.

Lord,

I know that you are very aware of everything I do and everything I thought, and I cannot hide anywhere and anything from you, so please Lord, correct my attitudes and my pattern of thinking, that keep causing me to sin and do what is evil in your sight.

Help me to commence the journey right, make the first step correctly, so that in the future I will harvest what I had planted. Thank you Lord, I know that you will bless me in my journey of faith and continue to be with me always! Thank you, I pray this all in Jesus’ name, Amen!

Franco

Walk the Walk

18 July 2007 – Walk the Walk

James 2:26

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Action speaks louder than words! I believe this phrase is being so familiar to most of us, it emphasize that you should act it out rather than just say an empty talk, people doesn’t want you just to talk the talk, but walk the walk!

In the book of James, I have learnt many things concerning of Christian Lifestyle, I have made the temptation clear and prayed that God will strengthen me for all things is possible for whom I believe. Although the temptation is still here and tempting, but I believe that one day I will get rid of it! In this book I also learnt that when you read the word, don’t just read it, do it!

James 1:22

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!

It is very important to notice that God didn’t just give us mouth, he also gave us hands and legs; that means God besides wants us to talk, he wants us to do what we said. Nothing can deny the truth when somebody saw that you really have faith from what you did.

It comes to a point that the faith is USELESS when it is not followed by deeds (James 2:26). In other words, it is about our attitude construction, nothing can change the way we think unless we decide it, it is not our circumstances, it is not the things we did, it is not the power of success, it is not the people we know, it is all about our attitude!

Pals, let us note that faith is a fact, agree? But faith is also an act!

Lord,

Change me, create in me a clean heart, wash away my sins, because you are my hiding place. Thank you for letting me to learn that faith does not make effect when the deeds are absent. Lord, be my guide, place your heart inside my soul, makes me can have a chance to talk the talk and walk the walk. What can stop you if you decided to make a move? Thank you, I commit all the Glory and the power and the authority in your name. In Jesus’ name,

Amen!

Franco

Comes from Desires

17 July 2007 – Comes from Desires

James 1:12

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Endurance, which is the pre-requisite for all of us to pursue in the journey of faith, will have a phase of growth and some kind of thingy called ‘level-up’ in our lives. As it is written in the Word:

James 1:3

For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

Yes, indeed, we need endurance to do most of the things, even to tackle problem dealing with our desires, which includes temptations. Temptations are not from the Lord, it is from our own desires. So it makes sense of the title for now. We dare not to complain and blame that God has tempted us, no! God will not tempt us to do bad things, for He is the God of all-good! Amen?

It is our own desires that causes us to experience temptations, God has put in a promise that He will never leave us and provide the things that we need as we seek his kingdom and righteousness. But we people are always getting it wrong by using incorrect attitudes! Friends, it cannot be such!

Currently, I myself am having a temptation of my own, which is dealing with my own desires, in the aspect of adultery. It is not that I do the things; it is that like Jesus said, once your mind think of adultery, you are already committing it! I have prayed earnestly everyday and I know that God will be leading me to solve this problem! It just needs to take time! First of all, I need to apologize to all the people whom I have done wrong to, I am sorry that there is a ‘victim’; I will never do that to you again! I swear!

In the brighter angle, I can see that after I had successfully dealing with the temptation, I will have the PRIZE!! Hooray! Yes, the people who win the temptation will be crowned by God a crown of life! God is never-failing, ever-knowing, and everywhere present!

Lord,

help me to go through this temptation, for I know that this temptation comes from my own desires and the lack of my faith and endurance. I am sorry that I have hurt you God, and I am sorry to the person that has been my target of sinning, I vow to submit all my apologies and my sin to you, please, Lord, deal with them and help me to get through it, so that I will now be a new person in you! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Franco

Up from Downs

16 July 2007 – Up from Downs

5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,

“I will never fail you.
I will never abandon you.”^[b]

6 So we can say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper,
so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?”^[c]

Have you ever heard an untrustworthy saying that Christian should be poor, should not be rich because money is evil? I bet you heard that before, so it is absolutely incorrect! Friends, have you ever heard that God is a prosperous God, he will make us prosper in our belongings? It is exactly what it is, as recorded in the Word of God!

1 Samuel 25:6
“Peace and prosperity to you, your family, and everything you own!

But take note that, we shouldn’t love money, not gain money! Did you realize that? Can you get the point? Yes, I bet you can! God allows us to gain money and allow us to prosper; it is just that we need to treat this with a correct pattern of thinking that was developed long ago, i.e. attitude. We should be satisfied with what we have now, by this God will make us prosper in every aspect of life, notice that it is the every aspects of life! That means it includes wealth, friendship circle, health, etc.

So we will have a confidence in these, we should get rid of our sounds of complaining as God hates complaining! We should be enrolled in the living of Promise Land rather than wandering around the wilderness! God has put in a measure of adversity to all of us, each according to their own fair measure. What we should do is not complaining, but to have a thankful attitude which enable us to have confidence to stand up from where we are!

“Up from downs” gives a meaning of that we can stand UP from the troughs, the deep DOWN valley of life. Yes! As we have faith, and rely on God, we can achieve anything with the one who strengthen us!

Franco

Pay for It!

15 July 2007 – Pay for It!

Hebrew 12:11

No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

Have not we experienced that we are being trained of something by someone? Or can you commemorate the days of your participation in your uniformed organization such as Red Crescent, St. John, Boy Scout, Girl Guide, etc? Did the trainer express strictness and threatens? Are you enjoying the training as a trainee?

Honestly, the answer must be on negative aspect. It should be No! No one likes to be trained and disciplined, but we have to experience it no matter what. It is because discipline can make us a better person, a more enduring person, person with commitment, etc. We might be enjoying the outcome at the end, but we will suffer before all of this!!

In the Word of God, God said that, no discipline is enjoyable when it is happening, it is painful! Why others still continue carrying out these kinds of training even though they know that it must be painful? Are they some kind of torturer? They want us to suffer then they will enjoy with the happiness? No! Certainly not!

Notice that after the painful section, what did God say? There will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way! It is the fact everyone of us enjoy a peaceful harvest of living right, if the answer is yes, then you must accept this way of training. The main point is that today if we are suffering from training or being disciplined; we will then enjoy what we have done afterward with the outcome!

Indeed, you have to pay for what you had done, if you had suffered, and then you will enjoy the end result, that is the reason for the title today.

Franco

Power of Faith

14 July 2007 – Power of Faith

Hebrew 11:1-2

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.

What is faith? In our Christian lifestyle, faith is an inevitable element. Instead, faith is the most significant element in our life and yet it really played a great role in our Christian living.

Even to those who didn’t even know Jesus Christ or accepted Him, faith is still present. Now, when you trust your bed that when you sleep on it, the bed won’t collapse; It is great that we have faith in our mom’s cooking and we enjoy eating it!

Friends, those are faith! In the bible, there is a clear and precise definition of faith, which is the confidence that what we hope will actually happen, which gives us assurance about the unseen things. When you are confident that something will happen before you can see the outcome, then you have faith!

In no doubt, faith does have power! In no reason, faith also pleases God!

Hebrew 11:6

And it is impossible to please God without faith.

What is the power of faith then? What can it do? Is it just a mere hope? No! It can motivate you to do something that you normally or often would not do, if you always try something new, you will have a chance to practice your faith, and hence, it gives a good reputation to us (Heb 11:2) !

Excluding the evangelist, normal human like all of us, like President Bush, Martin Luther King, Dr. Mahathir, etc. All of them are faith warriors! Is it not their faith make them famous and possessing good reputation?

Friends! Practice your faith now! Start pleasing God in heart and in move!

Franco

Patience

13 July 2007 – Patience

Hebrew 10: 36

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Patience, it is a thing that we need for all people, regardless of your age and your level. It is true, no matter what. Haven’t you wondered before that the story of “Fishing trip of Jiang Tai Gong, the willing baits” (姜太公钓鱼, 愿者上钓)? What for the Jiang Tai Gong fishing is different from us? He is not waiting the fish the eat his bait, in fact, he has no baits! He is waiting for the fish to eat his string and then can get it! It is the work of Patience! Without patience, it is unable to carry on.

Patience provides us motivation to wait and to observe the changing of circumstances around us, after that we could choose the best way to solve the problem. Patience is a calm attitude, anxiety won’t occur if patience is present.

God reminded us that, patience and endurance is what we need NOW, so that we can continue in doing God’s will. On other words, if you have patience, you will know what God wants in a particular matter. It is true! The more patience you are, the more point of view of the matter you can observe, give it a try!

Though patience is an attitude, this pattern of thinking that need more time to be developed are not easy to pursue, but once if you are determined, nothing can get you down! The only who is down is the fellow named Satan!

Satan, get lost! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen!

Franco

Destiny

12 July 2007 – Destiny

Hebrew 9:27-28

And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,

So also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.

Today I commence my essay by entitling it as “Destiny”. Destiny, which is being trusted since long ago, and being experienced by people from all walks of life since ages ago, even to people who is insolent, rebellious, righteous, faithful, kind, loving, etc.

So, what can you think about destiny? In the record of Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary, destiny gives a meaning of what happens to somebody or what will happen to them in the future, especially things that they cannot change or avoid. Indeed, all of us have our very own destiny, which has been decided far before we had born, by God. We cannot avoid them, but to choose only accept them, as a part of our lives. Previously I don’t believe on Destiny, but now, I understand the deep meaning in it, it is the mixture of the arrangement of God and our own planning. In other words,

God’s Plan + Own Plan = Destiny

Indeed, we know that God’s plan is greater than all of us, further than what we think or imagine, but God still need our own plan to establish a nice future. Let’s work it out with an example, a student who wanted to pursue his study abroad, so he worked very hard and doing hard work in studying. In the sense that he will enter the university that he desired; In the meantime, God, ruler of the earth, has seen our plan and he can establish His plan that has been planned before we had been borne. At last, the university has successfully accepted the person, and he would be enjoying a bright future!

Sometimes, we thought that our own plans are not as good as we thought of, God knows that, so He gave another plan to us for supplement, which we didn’t want to. It is a destiny too. For God’s will is greater than our will, God’s way is better than our way. This ends up becoming the best for us, that God has wanted us to be.

Friends, we are living under God’s plan, but we need to have our very own dream, which is on God’s will, that will be happening as in the first case! Though we may experience the second case, but it isn’t bad at all! As long as we know that the way is more suitable for us in the future! :)

It is the destiny that brings us to eternity, that provides us salvation, too.

Franco

Focusing on the Right Place

11 July 2007 – Focusing on Right Place

Isaiah 8:15

But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it?
Is the saw greater than the person who saws?
Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it?
Can a wooden cane walk by itself?

What can you learn from this excerpt? What is the point of comparing the powers of ax, saw and rod? From this, I personally got know about the thingy of focus, the main point is that to focus, and should be Focus to the Right Place!

Why am I bolded those words? It is due to the fact that focusing right is very important! This phenomenon exists in the very world we live today, in the realm of business, many businessmen tend to focus on profits rather than sincerity and honesty; In education, teachers or lecturers tend to obtain higher pay rather than focusing on teaching the students loyally; In the realm of arts and media, the stars tend to chase on popularity rather than making impact to the society!

So, we should tune it right! The book of Isaiah used the metaphor of ax, saw and rod to illustrate this point. God reminded us that the power of the user of the ax is greater than the ax; The carpenter is greater than the saw itself; and the hand is controlling the rod! Friends, you have to focus on the right thing, some has get it all wrong, what they are searching was right, it is just that focused wrongly. That makes themselves as failures.

Friends, what are we now focusing to? We ought not to focus other things but not God, as you know, a creator is far greater than the creations. Some will focus on money but forgot the blessings of the Lord; some only chase for miracles but forgot the authority of God; some only chase after healing and deliverance, which omitted God who is performing these.

Clarify yourself! Make yourself pointing the right direction, then you will get everything that you have wanted!

Luke 12:31
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.

Franco

Faith wins Law

10 July 2007 – Faith wins Law

Hebrew 7:19

For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

What I learnt today is quite a significant teaching, and it applies in our very world today. Faith wins the power of the Law, do you agree?

It works, law is initially made to let men know that what they should and shouldn’t do, but there is always someone who fails to keep it, even in the very world today, there is a way that some people utilize the grey spot of the law to win profit for themselves. This shows that law is not perfect, and it makes no difference to the people under it.

Faith is different, which is more powerful at which it wins the power of law. Moreover, faith is the most equal and just measure of salvation. It is not according to our acts, not according to our morals, not according to our obedience to the law. It is about our faith! Faith is common in all of us, even a 1-month-old child possesses faith, and neither can an ill-possessed old man be omitted. Once you believe, then you can have it, and achieve it, and see the outcome of it!

Law cannot control the people for not doing right or wrong. It is passive, but faith is an active act! Faith is a fact, and it is also an act! If you believe it, then action!

Franco

Growing Towards Spiritual Maturity

9 July 2007 – Growing Towards Spiritual Maturity

Hebrew 6:1

So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God.

What shall I say about today? It is about spiritual maturity growth, friends, all of you had known the meaning of “maturity”, it won’t be difficult to realize that you understand the word “spiritual” either. But what is the meaning of their combinations – Spiritual Maturity?

It is not that we know how many books are in the bible, not that we know how to memorize all the names of the books in the bible gives measure to the spiritual maturity. It is far deeper than them, it is to get beyond the basics teaching about Christ, it doesn’t mean that Christ is not important, but He is the vital character in our bible, but we still have many things to learn in the thick book right?

The theme of my church in Sandakan, is exactly the title of my essay today, truly, they are growing from now on, the story of Jesus has already reached to a level that everyone has known them, it is the time for us to study about other person, in the instance – Elijah. In the old testament there are many character we ought to learn from, there are many lessons that we can get know about, we have many truths to know about there!

As it is written in Paul’s letters to Hebrew, he told us to stop continuing the basic teachings of Christ again and again but go on growing towards spiritual maturity! It is exactly what God want us to be!

Growing towards Spiritual Maturity!

Franco

Faithful in Unfaithful

8 July 2007 – Faithful in Unfaithful

Psalm 100:5

For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

From the bible, we normally know that God is a really determined God, which he will do what he says, in the book of Hosea, God has said that Israel should be perishing in vain, that every people will suffer in the plague and adversities. How can God become so merciless?! Actually it is not that way, if you can understand His feelings; you will know why he should do that, it is not merciless at all!

Through many seasons and incidences, I finally realized that God is really a faithful God, and the reason that I entitle this essay as “Faithful in Unfaithful” is to emphasize two parties – God and us, respectively. Yup, God is faithful even if we are unfaithful; this is a wonderful thing to know of. Nothing can change this truth even the history! Heaven and earth will pass away, but the word of God will never fade! This shows that the evidence that God is remaining faithful through times.

In the book of Psalm, we proclaim that the Lord is Good all the time, and all the time, God is good! He is really a great God and a great father that we have, it is undeniable and He is not the God that will approve our pleas always, though he listen our prayers always, God shows great discernment in giving approval, he knows what is good and bad for us then he will make his decision. Isn’t it great? His love endures forever!

Ps 102:26-27

They will perish, but you remain forever;
they will wear out like old clothing.
You will change them like a garment
and discard them.
But you are always the same;
you will live forever.

He is thrive in the unfailing love, he is faithful through generations and generations, and we always plan the good things for us in our lives, but he has planned the BEST things for us in our lives!

Franco

Days of the Lord

7 July 2007 – Days of the Lord

Hebrew 4:12-13

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

I read the newspaper for the news recently and I found that many of the couples in Europe decided to marry today – 7 July 2007, as there is trilogy of seven today. In the mindset of them, 7 is a lucky number which represents good, so most of the couples decided to commence their marriage life today.

It is not that we marry on today is not good, but the point is – what is your attitude toward this date? Is it that when you miss today then other days will be unlucky? Or the marriage will not be successful? It is not that way friends, everyday is a good day, as everyday we have the blessings of God, everyday we have the time to chat with God, everyday we can communicate with our friends, everyday we can enjoy our marriage life, everyday can be a Christmas day, or even Valentine’s day, Mothers’ day or Fathers’ day!

It depends, on how you look at it:

Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Everyday is made by the Lord, God used 6 days to create the heavens and the earth, then he rested at the seventh day, is it that the 6 days are not good? No! Rest gives a meaning that we could appreciate the creator. How about the other six days? Of course can! It really depends, everyday is the day of the Lord, everyday God is by our side, everyday we live for Him.

Nothing can be hidden from God, nothing that God doesn’t know, as He knows everything, extremely mighty and situated everywhere! Wish all of you have a nice attitude! If you are planning to change, have patience, for it requires time.

Finally, wish all of you have a HAPPY MARRIAGE LIFE! Congratulations!

Franco

Entrance to Promise Land

6 July 2007 – Entrance to Promise Land

Hosea 6:6

I want you to show love,
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
more than I want burnt offerings.

Recently I have bought a book entitled “Lord, Change my Attitude (Before it’s too late)”, this is a book that I delighted, as I am the person who really entrusted to the saying that attitude can decide our future, and attitude is important for all of us. Currently I am still under the process of reading, wait till after I finish read, an epilogue will be written to all of you!

Are you ready to go to the promise land that God has promised? Definitely yes! Though it is what all of us want, it ends up with only two persons – Joshua and Caleb, enter the land. Why is that so? In the reading of my bible today, it is mainly about the God’s declaration of destructing Israel, there are sentences that I quoted, he said ‘I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices …’

It is obvious in this scripture that God does not want sacrifices and offerings in main, the offerings are not the first priority! Remember!! He created the heaven and earth, all things in the universe belongs to Him! He is far more wealthy than everyone of us, I bet! He doesn’t want your offerings actually, but why do we need to offer then? Does this give a meaning that we can skip offering from now on? CERTAINLY NOT! Offering is not providing to God, it is to show to God how much you love Him and care for Him! Just like a son give money to his parents, his parents do not need them actually, but when they accept the money, in the deepest realm of their heart, are writhe with happiness and delight.

This is the reason that God has told us to show love rather than offer sacrifices! The things we should do is the tune our attitude up to the right position, we can show love to our God through giving sacrifices, but not giving sacrifices for showing love! I bet you caught what I mean. ^,^

Blessings!

Franco

Teaching by Experiences

5 July 2007 – Teaching by Experiences

Hebrews 2:18

Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.

In our young ages, or readers who are approaching young ages, or maybe situating in young ages, will understand that, if you have any hardships and adversity, you would like to seek advice of someone who are experienced. Generally, we have a mindset that the people who are older will have greater experiences, which is quite true for most cases.

Whenever we met with problems such as BGR problem, friendship problem, etc, it is no doubt that parents are our best choice to seek assistance and counseling as they have plenty of experiences when they were young (Imagine how your dad flirt your mom and how your mom marry to your dad before! ^. ^/). They sure can provide you some valuable resources!

It is the same thing when applied to God, why does God teach us his teachings? Or I put it such, why does God have teaching for us? It is not ridiculous that we say that He is very experienced. How can He teach us if experiences did not fill Him up? How can He wrote the whole bible and be courageous enough to tell us that is the mirror of our lives and follow His teachings?

You might be asking, how can He understand me? He never met this kind of experience before! Friends, have you forgotten Jesus Christ has come and suffered? He experienced love, life, death, humiliation, missions, suffering, testing, temptations and many more! How can we say that He never met with this kind of experience that you are facing now?

Friends, bear in mind that, only an experienced person can teach inexperienced persons. So are we experienced enough to tackle all problem? To me, I am still not mature enough; Perhaps some friends who are quite elderly even thought that they are still inexperienced. So we should seek a guidance and guess what? It is God! Through God we can get knowledge and wisdoms, then we can use His wisdoms to teach others, this is a process of growing mature!

Franco

Like Father Like Son

4 July 2007 – Like Father Like Son

Hebrew 1:3

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.

There is an old saying which is ‘Like father like son’, it is true that no matter how a son like or hate his/her father, and they will soon become some ‘shadow’ of their parents. It is unavoidable, because they are the person who live with us most of the time during our young ages, they are the person who interact with us most of our lifetime, they are the person who love us the most more than others!

A son plays an important role to the parents, some say parents educating children are just like they are baking cakes, they use all the best ingredients and portions to ‘bake’ a ‘wonderful’ cake, but reality often disappoints us, they will be some ‘impurities’ mixed inside that causes the cake become spoiled. Nevertheless, son radiates the glory of his father! Just like how Jesus do for God!

When someone saw the attitude of the child, immediately they will think about their parents, if the attitudes are nice, parents will be enjoying appraisal; but when the attitudes are intolerant, parents will experience critics and judges. Children radiate the glory of their parents and express the very character of their parents!

It is absolutely unavoidable that children will learn from their parents more than they learn from outside world. So, the attitude and character of the children are also reflecting the character of their parents.

The bible has many times emphasizing the verses that a child should honor their parents so that they may live long in the inherited land. The reason that the focus is on the child is that not everyone has a chance becoming a parents in their lifetime, but everyone are the children of their parents!

Friends, let us be a good child at home and a good example to our future sons, doing such will be delighted by everyone else in the world outside and differences can be made and impacts can be achieved!

Franco

Conditions for Clapping

3 July 2007 – Conditions for Clapping

Isaiah 7:9

… Unless your faith is firm,
I cannot make you stand firm.”

I bet you guys will found no idea why I put the title of the article today concerning about clapping, how does it connected to the Word of God? What is it all about?

First, I want to stretch out a point that it is connected firmly with the principle of God which He wants us to learn, in the book of Isaiah. Secondly, what is this all about? It is all about the cooperation of two parties, more on it, it is cooperation. We can never clap single handed, no matter how, unless you find another hand or another surface which enables you to produce sound and impact to your hand.

In the Bible, God tells us, unless our faith is firm, He cannot make us stand firm. It clearly brings out a point that God gives us freedom of choice and He emphasizes that He cannot work alone!

What is the condition of clapping? The vital one is that we should have two hands to enable clapping! Have we ever given God a hand when He stretched out his hand to us for a ‘Give me Five’? Or you only stand there and waiting God to stretch out his hand towards us without us being cooperating?

Concerning our faith, if our faith is not firm enough, no matter how God make, He cannot make us stand firm in adversity! Friends, are we still seeking God’s help without ourselves remain unfaithful? Do we always bear in mind that God can help us even if our confidences are not sufficient? Remember this principle! Whenever you start communicating with God, commemorate this principle: Two-Handed Clapping Principle!

Franco

Co-Ruler of God

2 July 2007 – Co-Ruler of God

Psalm 115:16-18

The heavens belong to the Lord,
but he has given the earth to all humanity.
The dead cannot sing praises to the Lord,
for they have gone into the silence of the grave.
But we can praise the Lord
both now and forever!

It has been a long time since I read the excerpt of Psalm in my devotion, today I am pleased to have an opportunity to share with you guys about my after-reading article.

These verses enable me to commemorate about the word of God when He first created the world, in the Genesis. God has created everything and called that good and very good! After that, He has given the human a Cultural Mandate that we should take authority of this earth, God let human to subdue the earth, God make us as his co-ruler!

What is significant about this? It comes with the significance when the Christians in most of the places are rejecting the world, having an opinion that the world is under the authority of the devil, so the holy people will not mingle with the dark world! Let them go to hell, and we enjoy in heaven!

What a selfish attitude!! It is ridiculous to say that! Couple of days before I gave a sharing about “Condemner to Conversionist”, this is the elaboration of that article. We convert the earth instead of condemn the earth, so many manifestation about “Repent or Perish”, “Believe or Burn in Hell”, etc. Nah, they are pointless and even lead others to wrong paths about Christianity! We are not here to condemn the earth, as Jesus said, we are in the world but not of the world, so we have to be the salt and the light of the earth, we elaborated that if the salt has loses its flavour, what more is its use but to be thrown out and trampled by men! Have you noticed the significance of our attitude?

Again, I emphasize, attitude is important!! It is not that I am long-winded, but I really want all of you to understand the importance of attitude, and the effect brought by different attitude!

FraNco

Faithful Focus

1 July 2007 – Faithful Focus

Isaiah 2:22

Don’t put your trust in mere humans.
They are as frail as breath.
What good are they?

Today I would like to discuss something about double F’s to you, the double Fs refer to ‘Faith’ and ‘Focus’. Why should I put these two Fs together? Or, why I put an ‘and’ between them? Can they exist independently? Are they mutually exclusive or greatly related?

These two Fs can exists separately, but it would not have the outcome of what you want to happen. If you only have focus, you may focus on something that doesn’t correct and even focus on the wrong target, without faith we cannot have a motivation to achieve it too; If we have only faith, without focus, our faith will have be in vain, we have faith because we trust on something, if we do not have a right focus, we would experience deceive and untrustworthy.

So, what I want to share with all of you today is to “Put your faith into the right focus”, everybody has faith, even a few-month-old baby has faith, if we trust on something, we will be able to use that something, for example, you are trusting the chair you now sit with, so you sit it! In the book of Isaiah, God said that we should not merely trust in humans. Why is that so? Then how can we make friends? Isn’t it ridiculous?

No, it is not that extreme that you thought it would be, as you know, human nowadays are untrustworthy, even if you disagree, it still continues. Betrayals often happen between two best friends, deceptions occur between two best colleagues. It is obvious that human is generally unfaithful, though we should still put in trust to human, but not merely human, because by doing such we will be faithful without focusing!

When we trust in humans, we should, at the same time, focus on God, it doesn’t mean that you should not pay attention on what your friends say and do. God knows what is the genuine, what is the fake, what is good, what is bad, what is trustworthy, what is deceitful.

Even human unfaithful, that disappointing us always; But God remains faithful, through the seasons and the times, even the heaven and earth pass away, His word will never fade away! It is because He is faithful for what He said!

Franco