Dear friends,
I hope you have all been well! And happy Father's day to all the wonderful fathers out there! I'm a little sad to be separated from my own father on this special day, but thank the Lord for technology! I could talk to him on the phone all day if I wanted! (More like if he wanted... which he doesn't.) But that is okay! I hope you all have an amazing day today filled with very special time with your families :)
Today, I would like to share with you a couple of verses that have been speaking to me in the past couple of days. You see, I'm preparing to go to Haiti in August and as we train together as a team, we are supposed to memorize a whole pile of bible verses, which is an excellent idea, but I have a very unfortunate memory. I've memorized next to nothing and no matter how hard I try, it just won't stick! But they've still been speaking to me. :)
Romans 12:1
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your act of spiritual worship."
Galatians 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
The life I had previously lived had been a Kristen-centered life. What was the purpose of my life? Earn money, buy a car, buy a house, buy clothes, buy food, be popular, be funny, be "loved," be famous, be fit... and the list goes on and on. These are the only things I wanted in life and I worked hard for them. I earned a lot of money in high school and I was able to buy many different objects, but I got bored of every single one of them. I also had many friends in high school, but I was never satisfied. I wanted more. I wanted them to love me the MOST. I wanted to be everybody's best friend.
I was, and still am, very sinful. My heart was so full of sin and pride... But at the time, I didn't realize the extent of it. Even now, I am still realizing every day exactly how sinful I really am, and it makes me all the more thankful for the mercy God poured out onto us. Have you ever thought about it? Have you ever realized how merciful our God truly is?
In Romans, Paul is urging us, but not telling us, to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God. He is exhorting us to offer our lives to God. I was reading a commentary on this verse and it was explaining how the greek word for spiritual is logikos. But derived from logikos is also the English word logical - which is normally associated with the mind. The definition is a little confusing, but it makes sense when you put it into context. When it says "this is your spiritual act of worship," it makes sense for the word logikos to be inserted there. For it should be logical that since God has shown us mercy, we would offer our bodies as living sacrifices to him! He has freed us from our old masters... So now that we are free, why would we continue to serve our old masters?
Just as Galatians says, we have been given this new life to live where Christ lives in us! We are now in union with Christ - both actively and passively. Further on in Galatians (5:13-6:10), it speaks of both walking in the Spirit and being led by the Spirit. It is not only one or only the other, but it is both. Christ now lives in us, but we now also live by faith in the Son of God!
Amen to that! We have been freed from our old masters and are now able to serve our merciful God with our lives. We are able to walk in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit! I am truly so grateful that God has allowed my eyes to be opened to his great works. Every single time I heard the truth of how a God sent his one and only son to die on a cross for an undeserving human... I feel nothing but overwhelming thankfulness in my heart and the desire to give everything I am to my creator. How blessed are we, dear friends, to be able to serve such a wonderful God. I don't want to sit around and live for myself anymore!
Brothers and sisters, may we learn to love like our creator! May we learn to die to ourselves every single day and live for God! May we learn to love one another selflessly!
Much love. :)
-kjoosaurus out!
Showing posts with label Blessed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blessed. Show all posts
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
His Perfect Timing [01/24/13]
Hello all!
It's another freezing cold day here in Ottawa and according to the Ottawa Citizen, "Ottawa was colder than Iqaluit on Wednesday, as the windchill-adjusted temperature hit a low of -40." Being from Vancouver where the climate is generally warmer, this cold weather has the tendency to bring my mood lower and lower and lower... Just like the temperature! I then tend to become very impatient with people and react unreasonably, but today as I was going about with a frown on my face, God was gently reminding me to be patient and loving to everybody rather than rash and impatient.
In this modern society, we are always so busy with the distractions of life. We have to go to work, school, some have kids to take care of, others have extra-curricular activities to attend, and the list is just never-ending! Also, there's the topic of technology. Everything is instant. We have high-speed internet, we can text people, and we get frustrated when things begin to lag and slow down. We begin to grow accustomed to this speedy life and we become impatient with anything that doesn't move at the same pace as the rest of our life.
Do you find yourself getting upset when somebody is taking their precious, sweet time to make your coffee in the morning? Do you find yourself getting frustrated when the line at the grocery store is so long and you've already been standing there for five minutes?
Just like the way I expect everything in my life to be instant, I also expect everything from God to be instant. I often find myself expecting him to answer my many prayers right away. I want him to tell me exactly what to do as SOON as I pray, and when he tells me to wait, I get impatient and frustrated!
But, although it may be difficult to remember, God's timing is always the best timing possible!
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.
God already has a time set out for everything and we have to wait for his answer before taking action. If you're like me, this doesn't happen very often. There are times when we can become extremely impulsive. We rely on our own knowledge and strength and we take matters into our own hands.
Just as we act impulsively, there are many figures in the bible that acted impulsively as well. An extreme example might be Moses.
Exodus 2:11-1211 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
Like Moses, we become blinded by our emotions. We react impulsively and we do it without consulting God. Even though our heart may be in the right place, the actions we perform might not be suitable for the situation! We're so used to acting in the present. When we see something we don't like, we want to change it right away but that isn't always what God has planned for us. Sometimes God might want us to act right away, but his method may be different from our own. We should always be looking up towards him instead of around us!
God has perfect timing for everything, and all we have to do is ask him when to do what and how. He will tell us! He might not always answer our prayers right away, but he will never leave a prayer unanswered. :)
Thanks for reading~
-kjoosaurus out!
It's another freezing cold day here in Ottawa and according to the Ottawa Citizen, "Ottawa was colder than Iqaluit on Wednesday, as the windchill-adjusted temperature hit a low of -40." Being from Vancouver where the climate is generally warmer, this cold weather has the tendency to bring my mood lower and lower and lower... Just like the temperature! I then tend to become very impatient with people and react unreasonably, but today as I was going about with a frown on my face, God was gently reminding me to be patient and loving to everybody rather than rash and impatient.
In this modern society, we are always so busy with the distractions of life. We have to go to work, school, some have kids to take care of, others have extra-curricular activities to attend, and the list is just never-ending! Also, there's the topic of technology. Everything is instant. We have high-speed internet, we can text people, and we get frustrated when things begin to lag and slow down. We begin to grow accustomed to this speedy life and we become impatient with anything that doesn't move at the same pace as the rest of our life.
Do you find yourself getting upset when somebody is taking their precious, sweet time to make your coffee in the morning? Do you find yourself getting frustrated when the line at the grocery store is so long and you've already been standing there for five minutes?
Just like the way I expect everything in my life to be instant, I also expect everything from God to be instant. I often find myself expecting him to answer my many prayers right away. I want him to tell me exactly what to do as SOON as I pray, and when he tells me to wait, I get impatient and frustrated!
But, although it may be difficult to remember, God's timing is always the best timing possible!
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.
God already has a time set out for everything and we have to wait for his answer before taking action. If you're like me, this doesn't happen very often. There are times when we can become extremely impulsive. We rely on our own knowledge and strength and we take matters into our own hands.
Just as we act impulsively, there are many figures in the bible that acted impulsively as well. An extreme example might be Moses.
Exodus 2:11-1211 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
Like Moses, we become blinded by our emotions. We react impulsively and we do it without consulting God. Even though our heart may be in the right place, the actions we perform might not be suitable for the situation! We're so used to acting in the present. When we see something we don't like, we want to change it right away but that isn't always what God has planned for us. Sometimes God might want us to act right away, but his method may be different from our own. We should always be looking up towards him instead of around us!
God has perfect timing for everything, and all we have to do is ask him when to do what and how. He will tell us! He might not always answer our prayers right away, but he will never leave a prayer unanswered. :)
Thanks for reading~
-kjoosaurus out!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
The Perfect Person [5/22/12]
Hello! kjoosaurus is now checking in =P
I had quite a blessed night tonight! I was able to attend the youth group at my church, and the message that was spoken was great! Once again, we spoke about love.
Love, love, love. Such a vast topic. We could talk about it for days and days and days. So, I will be talking about it again today and I would like to share a bit more about what I learned about love. I got the amazing opportunity to lead a small group today, and I hope the girls in this group learned something from what I said, because I definitely learned a lot from what they said.
The message told today was very interesting, and perfectly relatable to my life. There was something that was said, and it just meant so much to me.
I find that something we worry about a lot is who we're going to end up with. We're always searching for our life partner, and I'm sure many feel like the search will never end! But why do we put so much energy into this? Why must we find that life partner right now? I mean, I'm only 19. I'm still young, but I find myself searching for people that could be potential candidates. Not everybody is like this, but I think I could safely say that many of us are.
Because of this eagerness to find our life partner, I find many of us jumping into relationships too quickly. We don't always consider why we're going into a relationship. We don't think about whether it is love, or lust. We just want that person who will always be there for us; that person who will be by our side! In many cases, I know we can become very lonely. In our loneliness, we don't think before we jump into a relationship, because we are craving love so badly. But shouldn't God's love be enough for us?
I always forget about that. God's love is enough, and when the time is right, he will provide me with the perfect man.
Today, in our small groups, the other leader and I asked the girls why they choose to jump into relationships so quickly. The answers I got were varying, interesting and a bit shocking for me to hear.
One girl said, "I use relationships to make other people jealous."
Another girl said, "I think you need to date around to make sure you know what your type is. You need to know what boys are like before you settle down with one of them."
And finally, another girl said, "I think relationships are something we should be careful about. Think about it like a chocolate bar. Every time you're in a relationship, you're giving a part of yourself to that person. Therefore, it's like they're taking a bite from your chocolate bar. The more times you let people have a bite of your chocolate bar, the less you will have. So, if you give too many people a bite, your husband will only have a little piece of the chocolate bar left!"
This last answer really made me think. Wow. Once I finally get married, I want to be able to give my husband everything. I want him to have that complete chocolate bar, and not just a piece of it. Therefore, I should wait for the person God has set aside for me, shouldn't I? I put so much time and energy into looking for a relationship. But I should be waiting until God tells me I am ready. Because, to be completely honest, I know I'm not ready right now.
On God's time, we will get this relationship we are all searching for, but it will be the perfect time and the perfect person for us!
Have a lovely night :)
- kjoosaurus out!
I had quite a blessed night tonight! I was able to attend the youth group at my church, and the message that was spoken was great! Once again, we spoke about love.
Love, love, love. Such a vast topic. We could talk about it for days and days and days. So, I will be talking about it again today and I would like to share a bit more about what I learned about love. I got the amazing opportunity to lead a small group today, and I hope the girls in this group learned something from what I said, because I definitely learned a lot from what they said.
The message told today was very interesting, and perfectly relatable to my life. There was something that was said, and it just meant so much to me.
I find that something we worry about a lot is who we're going to end up with. We're always searching for our life partner, and I'm sure many feel like the search will never end! But why do we put so much energy into this? Why must we find that life partner right now? I mean, I'm only 19. I'm still young, but I find myself searching for people that could be potential candidates. Not everybody is like this, but I think I could safely say that many of us are.
Because of this eagerness to find our life partner, I find many of us jumping into relationships too quickly. We don't always consider why we're going into a relationship. We don't think about whether it is love, or lust. We just want that person who will always be there for us; that person who will be by our side! In many cases, I know we can become very lonely. In our loneliness, we don't think before we jump into a relationship, because we are craving love so badly. But shouldn't God's love be enough for us?
I always forget about that. God's love is enough, and when the time is right, he will provide me with the perfect man.
Today, in our small groups, the other leader and I asked the girls why they choose to jump into relationships so quickly. The answers I got were varying, interesting and a bit shocking for me to hear.
One girl said, "I use relationships to make other people jealous."
Another girl said, "I think you need to date around to make sure you know what your type is. You need to know what boys are like before you settle down with one of them."
And finally, another girl said, "I think relationships are something we should be careful about. Think about it like a chocolate bar. Every time you're in a relationship, you're giving a part of yourself to that person. Therefore, it's like they're taking a bite from your chocolate bar. The more times you let people have a bite of your chocolate bar, the less you will have. So, if you give too many people a bite, your husband will only have a little piece of the chocolate bar left!"
This last answer really made me think. Wow. Once I finally get married, I want to be able to give my husband everything. I want him to have that complete chocolate bar, and not just a piece of it. Therefore, I should wait for the person God has set aside for me, shouldn't I? I put so much time and energy into looking for a relationship. But I should be waiting until God tells me I am ready. Because, to be completely honest, I know I'm not ready right now.
On God's time, we will get this relationship we are all searching for, but it will be the perfect time and the perfect person for us!
Genesis 2:18
The Lord God said, "It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
God is getting somebody ready for us! We will find this person when the time is right. We will find this person once we are ready and once they are ready. So, while we wait, we should invest our energy into our relationship with God! I'm definitely no relationship expert, but I do know that the most beautiful relationships ever are the Christ based relationships. And to have this Christ based relationship, we must get to know Christ first!
Have a lovely night :)
- kjoosaurus out!
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