Before I went to sleep last night, I read a story.
(Excerpt taken from By Their Blood,: Christian Martyrs from the Twentieth Century and Beyond by James C. Hefley, Marti Hefley)
One of those who escaped the camp was a young girl of eighteen who stumbled into an American camp. "Are you in pain?" a nurse asked when she arrived.
"No," she replied, "but I have learned the meaning of the cross." The nurse thought she was mentally disoriented and questioned her further. Pulling down the one garment she wore, the young girl exposed a bare shoulder. There, burned deeply into her flesh, was the figure of the cross.
"I was caught with others in my village. The Turks stood me up and asked, 'Muhammad or Christ?' I said, 'Christ. Always Christ.' For seven days they asked me this same question and each day when I said 'Christ', a part of this cross was burned into my shoulder. On the seventh day they said, 'Tomorrow if you say 'Muhammad' you will live. If not, you will die.' Then we heard that Americans were near and some of us escaped. That is how I learned the meaning of the cross."
This incident happened during the Armenian Memorial Day Massacre on April 24, 1915. Even though this scenario happened almost 100 years ago, this level of persecution is still prevalent today. But for us living in our comfy homes, nice cars, and more luxuries than we can count, we face the same question the young girl did. It might not be choosing between Muhammad or Christ...but between the music you listen to...or Christ. Hanging out with your friends....or Christ. Being quiet....or Christ. What would you choose? In every scenario, do you choose Christ? Always?
Think about it...
God bless,
Jobbin
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Jesus Paid it All!!
"Jesus paidd it allll, alll to Him I owweee... Sin had left a crimson stain, He wasshhed it white as snow, HE washed it white as SNOW!" (hear the music? feel the slow, but steady build-up? can't wait to jump into that excrutiatingly loud bridge line?? - OH PRAISE THE ONE WHO PAID MY DEBT, and RAISED THIS LIFE UP FROM THE DEAD!)
Ahh... good 'ole worship... we know what's going to happen, so we plan for it, we practice it, we stick to the moment and get all that we can out of it......... and then Monday hits and we find ourselves, on our knees at 10pm, prayyyying to God, "God, please forgive me! Take away my sin, wash me and purify me, make me whole once again!!" - possibly cry out and shed a few tears (possibly) until we feel reassured and feel a little better that God has once again provided His amazing mercy and grace over our lives...
The days go by and the weekend hits, and what feels to be a dry spout again in our life begins to become a BUBBLING spring!! (it's bubbling, it's bubbling.. it's bubbling in my SOUL!) YEY, the weekend!! A time of deliverance, revival, fellowship with our Christian friends, a time of meetings and church services.... another opportunity to be fake in the prescence of God all over again!!! YEY!! .......
Some of you might have caught that. Others.. not so much :) That's okay, I have yet to 'preach' or tell a person something that I have not struggled with myself. This is how I know that even the "least of these" can be used to bring God glory.
But I've been thinking about all that God has done for us. The amount of Love that He had for us to give up His Son upon that cross - with each and every hammer slammed against the nails, our flesh, our SIN, was being hung up on that cross...
I recently read a devotional about how our God is The Good Shepherd - you see, shepherds don't beat their sheep and hope they go in the right direction that he wants them to go... NOPE, instead, the shepherd would spend every moment of his life taking care of his sheep, whether awake or asleep, he is there among his sheep. If the pen that the sheep are in doesn't have a gate, the shepherd would actually sleep in the opening of the pen, so that none would get out (or come in) without his knowledge. He is their protector and he lays down his life for his sheep. Spending time amongst his sheep, he develops an amazing relationship with his sheep, and in turn, the sheep look to the shepherd for guidance because they acknowledge he is their master.
With all that God has given up for us, although we will never be able to fully repay Him, shouldn't we at least offer up ourselves to Him as a "reasonable sacrifice" and devote our time and efforts to Him? Not JUST on the weekends? Maybe with all that God has given up for us, shouldn't we at LEAST be adament in our walk with Him to not stray off His path that He wants for us? Maybe... just mayyyybe we can sing a song to Him and not just mean it for the moment, but also mean it come Monday morning, and all throughout the week JUST by living it out in our lives??
Maybe. I encourage you guys - be conscious of all that He has done for us, live a life pure in His eyes, and not just because we're "supposed to" - becuase it's not about the rules, it's about the relationship. So... let's bring truth to this statement:
"Sin has left a crimson stain, HE WASHED IT WHITE AS SNOW"
If it has been washed, and we believe it, let's not turn back to it. He deserves more of us than this...
God bless
Ahh... good 'ole worship... we know what's going to happen, so we plan for it, we practice it, we stick to the moment and get all that we can out of it......... and then Monday hits and we find ourselves, on our knees at 10pm, prayyyying to God, "God, please forgive me! Take away my sin, wash me and purify me, make me whole once again!!" - possibly cry out and shed a few tears (possibly) until we feel reassured and feel a little better that God has once again provided His amazing mercy and grace over our lives...
The days go by and the weekend hits, and what feels to be a dry spout again in our life begins to become a BUBBLING spring!! (it's bubbling, it's bubbling.. it's bubbling in my SOUL!) YEY, the weekend!! A time of deliverance, revival, fellowship with our Christian friends, a time of meetings and church services.... another opportunity to be fake in the prescence of God all over again!!! YEY!! .......
Some of you might have caught that. Others.. not so much :) That's okay, I have yet to 'preach' or tell a person something that I have not struggled with myself. This is how I know that even the "least of these" can be used to bring God glory.
But I've been thinking about all that God has done for us. The amount of Love that He had for us to give up His Son upon that cross - with each and every hammer slammed against the nails, our flesh, our SIN, was being hung up on that cross...
I recently read a devotional about how our God is The Good Shepherd - you see, shepherds don't beat their sheep and hope they go in the right direction that he wants them to go... NOPE, instead, the shepherd would spend every moment of his life taking care of his sheep, whether awake or asleep, he is there among his sheep. If the pen that the sheep are in doesn't have a gate, the shepherd would actually sleep in the opening of the pen, so that none would get out (or come in) without his knowledge. He is their protector and he lays down his life for his sheep. Spending time amongst his sheep, he develops an amazing relationship with his sheep, and in turn, the sheep look to the shepherd for guidance because they acknowledge he is their master.
With all that God has given up for us, although we will never be able to fully repay Him, shouldn't we at least offer up ourselves to Him as a "reasonable sacrifice" and devote our time and efforts to Him? Not JUST on the weekends? Maybe with all that God has given up for us, shouldn't we at LEAST be adament in our walk with Him to not stray off His path that He wants for us? Maybe... just mayyyybe we can sing a song to Him and not just mean it for the moment, but also mean it come Monday morning, and all throughout the week JUST by living it out in our lives??
Maybe. I encourage you guys - be conscious of all that He has done for us, live a life pure in His eyes, and not just because we're "supposed to" - becuase it's not about the rules, it's about the relationship. So... let's bring truth to this statement:
"Sin has left a crimson stain, HE WASHED IT WHITE AS SNOW"
If it has been washed, and we believe it, let's not turn back to it. He deserves more of us than this...
God bless
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
His Calling or Your Comfort?
Hey guys, hope all is going well on your end. God has been good to me since I posted last, and He continues to be a great God in my life.
Today, I woke up wanting to listen to some good ol' Christian tunes, so I jumped onto Youtube and began to search away. I came across a band named BarlowGirl...yes it is an all-girl band but for those who know me well, know that I listen to anything and everything:)..There was a song title that jumped out at me..Stay with me...I was wondering what that meant exactly so I clicked on the link.
The video began with the lead singer talking to a crowd they were playing for. She told them a story of a time when her band was going through some tough times. I don't want to spoil the true essence of her words by mixing it with my own so I'll let you watch the video and take from it what you will and what God wants you to learn from it. But, when I watched this video, alot of things started to make sense in my life. I learned that God is not going to pick you up and take you directly to your purpose and your final destination in His calling. And many of us hear this all the time but, God never places us in front of a wall that He knows we can't overcome. And Alyssa (lead singer of BarlowGirl), said that she wanted to quit serving him because He was making life so difficult for her.
Sometimes it might seem like a problem the size of the Great wall of China is standing before us, but we must remind ourselves that our God is a living God, and he already overcame this "Great wall of China" before and He can do it again. We as humans become so distraught by the laziness we feel and begin to forget that God isn't here to make life the most comfortable experience. We as Christians, must put our comfort on the back burner as we walk in the faith.
As she was sitting in her car complaining to God, she felt Him ask her something. He said that He hears from alot of Christians asking Him to get them out of hard times. But at the same time, they want to know their purpose and pursue their calling. They don't remember asking Him for His hand to work in their lives.
The message that I received from this song and Alyssa's brief testimony was that the hard times are what makes us stronger in the faith, it exercises our patience and makes it flourish so that when we come to face other roadblocks in this walk with God, we have the strength and the tools to overcome them with ease.
Thanks for reading and meditating on this:)
Jonathan
Today, I woke up wanting to listen to some good ol' Christian tunes, so I jumped onto Youtube and began to search away. I came across a band named BarlowGirl...yes it is an all-girl band but for those who know me well, know that I listen to anything and everything:)..There was a song title that jumped out at me..Stay with me...I was wondering what that meant exactly so I clicked on the link.
The video began with the lead singer talking to a crowd they were playing for. She told them a story of a time when her band was going through some tough times. I don't want to spoil the true essence of her words by mixing it with my own so I'll let you watch the video and take from it what you will and what God wants you to learn from it. But, when I watched this video, alot of things started to make sense in my life. I learned that God is not going to pick you up and take you directly to your purpose and your final destination in His calling. And many of us hear this all the time but, God never places us in front of a wall that He knows we can't overcome. And Alyssa (lead singer of BarlowGirl), said that she wanted to quit serving him because He was making life so difficult for her.
Sometimes it might seem like a problem the size of the Great wall of China is standing before us, but we must remind ourselves that our God is a living God, and he already overcame this "Great wall of China" before and He can do it again. We as humans become so distraught by the laziness we feel and begin to forget that God isn't here to make life the most comfortable experience. We as Christians, must put our comfort on the back burner as we walk in the faith.
As she was sitting in her car complaining to God, she felt Him ask her something. He said that He hears from alot of Christians asking Him to get them out of hard times. But at the same time, they want to know their purpose and pursue their calling. They don't remember asking Him for His hand to work in their lives.
The message that I received from this song and Alyssa's brief testimony was that the hard times are what makes us stronger in the faith, it exercises our patience and makes it flourish so that when we come to face other roadblocks in this walk with God, we have the strength and the tools to overcome them with ease.
Thanks for reading and meditating on this:)
Jonathan
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Hold on to Jesus
Hey guys I was just thinking how amazing Jesus spoke to the people about life matters within practical everyday analogies that the simple minded people knew. For example, I've been looking at John 15:1-8, the parable of the vine and branch. He knew the majority of everyone were farmers so he chose a topic that everyone understood already. Basically, in a nut shell you have a vine which is what the branches are attached to. If the the branches are not attached to the vine, the branches will not get stronger and not produce fruit and will die. Spiritually speaking we are the branches and Jesus is the vine. When we hold on to Jesus, we are able to be sustained and able to produce fruit. Also, something that has been on my heart for awhile, I feel we as the youth in the church we start losing connection with Jesus the moment we compromise our values/beliefs so that we can " hang out " with people. Don't ever forget who you are and in any situation HOLD ON TO JESUS.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Flying High
I walked out of the house to go to work this morning and it looked horrible. Dark clouds, monsoon type rain, and plus its only Wednesday. This is just adding up to be a great day <----(sarcasm). And just to make matters worse....I have a MILLION things to do....new responsibilities at work, ministry projects coming up, and a little thing called life.
But then I got an email that just changed my day completely around. A few months ago, our ministry held an event called Jesusade, a fund raising basketball tournament that helped build a well in Africa through The Water Project. We had a lot of fun organizing and planning the event and donated almost $2,000. After the event, we all felt really great, but life just moved on.
To be honest, since that tournament, life has been super-overwhelming for me and there have been plenty of times that I wanted to take a break from ministry and just focus on life. But this email changed all that. The President of the Water Project sent me an update on how our donations from last year are being used. With the help of the Chicago community, we were able to build a well for the Butere Girls High School in Kenya to serve over 1,200 students and 120 staff!!! (see pic above)
Talk about encouragement! Just the little work that we did as a community helped out young kids who needed fresh drinking water halfway across the globe. Not to boast in ourselves at all, but this is all by God's grace. We have so much and when you give back and literally see the impact, it is amazing.
I read a verse on this cool website called verseoftheday.com and today's verse was awesome and relates to this soo much:
"Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and will not be faint.
— Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)"
Who cares if its Wednesday, muggy, cloudy, and raining. I'm soaring.
Check out more details on our project at: http://thewaterproject.org/community/projects/kenya/new-well-in-kenya-418
God bless,
Jobbin
Hey guys,
I came across an interesting passage this morning, which ties into the two things I wanted to talk about in my blog this week :) haha - lucky me, the Bible has everything!! LOL
Before I tell you the passage though, I'll tell you what lead me up to it... for the past couple weeks I've been planning and praying about the mission trip that I'm going on to Mumbai, India this August... and through the time spent in prayer, and even in the planning itself - I have felt more convicted of things that i felt was "okay" and "just jokes" than I EVER have felt convicted of in the past... I heard a testimony of a woman who, as a child, was sold into slavery - and no, not the "forced-labor" slavery; rather, she was forced into sex-slavery. She was held down, and raped when she refused to be a part of such an industry... she was entrapped for 3 years, used and only spoken to for illicit sexual pleasures of immoral men and women... she slowly became one of them, and became an owner of a brothel herself - even after having the horrid memories lurking in her mind, yet SIN held onto her - it grasped her in every aspect of her life, and she couldn't let go... until she met Christ. That was when she put aside her past, opened up a Jubilee home for women undergoing such issues & slavery and persistently serves her Maker now in all aspects of her life... how or why the sudden change? Because, she met Christ.
So I began to pray, and the Spirit pressed harder on me than ever before - He questioned, why is it that we can know Christ all of our lives and become so complacent with things? Our words, our actions, our thoughts, our jokes. I really want you to take a look at your life (this goes for me as well) and question yourself... when you met Christ - did it change your life? You may say yes, of course it did! Okay - that's all good and all, but now ask this... Now that you've already met Christ, does your life still reflect that change?? Or does it find a balance with this world? Do you not smoke, drink, and go to a strip club, so... at least it's some justification to talk, act, and joke around impurely?
Now for the second part of thsi story... so the other night I was going to Subway after the gym and this homeless guy was outside and he asked me for bus fair... I had very little change on me, so I gave him what was in my pocket... I wanted to spend more time there... but for some reason, I didn't. So, I'm standing in line at Subway, and the homeless guy walks in... I thought, maybe I should buy him food? But he was just asking for bus fair... maybe I could've asked him if he was hungry... but I didn't. The guy sits down in the Subway, and honestly, his smell stenched up the place... like it was BAD!!! But no one in line said a word... a moment later, one of the ladies behind the glass pipes up and says "get up on outta here"... "yeah, I'm talking to you! you can't be in here like that... get up... get UP, and get OUT." I dunno guys... I felt SO horrible for him... all of these thoughts raced through my head... and before I knew it... he was gone. I WISH I would've said he's with me. Or I WISH I would've initially offered him food, so he didn't have to be humiliated like that... I WISH I could've offered him shelter, a shower, or even a decent meal.. I drove away that night wondering... WHY THE HECK AM I SO BLESSED?? Like, what makes me so important that I get to have a clean shower and a meal that night, but yet, he's still out there somewhere... and EVEN if he WAS lying, and he wasn't really homeless... he doesn't have to be there! He does not have to be stuck in that situation to feel that he has to lie to people for money... I dunno guys, that really hit me hard.
So this morning I read this:
James 1:26-27 - If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (NIV)
I dunno guys, it's time to step our game up... this life isn't about attaining jobs, or pursuing our studies, it's about what GOD wants to do with us - in our every word, action, thought, & even joke :)
(hopefully, this all made some sense! haha)
God bless!
I came across an interesting passage this morning, which ties into the two things I wanted to talk about in my blog this week :) haha - lucky me, the Bible has everything!! LOL
Before I tell you the passage though, I'll tell you what lead me up to it... for the past couple weeks I've been planning and praying about the mission trip that I'm going on to Mumbai, India this August... and through the time spent in prayer, and even in the planning itself - I have felt more convicted of things that i felt was "okay" and "just jokes" than I EVER have felt convicted of in the past... I heard a testimony of a woman who, as a child, was sold into slavery - and no, not the "forced-labor" slavery; rather, she was forced into sex-slavery. She was held down, and raped when she refused to be a part of such an industry... she was entrapped for 3 years, used and only spoken to for illicit sexual pleasures of immoral men and women... she slowly became one of them, and became an owner of a brothel herself - even after having the horrid memories lurking in her mind, yet SIN held onto her - it grasped her in every aspect of her life, and she couldn't let go... until she met Christ. That was when she put aside her past, opened up a Jubilee home for women undergoing such issues & slavery and persistently serves her Maker now in all aspects of her life... how or why the sudden change? Because, she met Christ.
So I began to pray, and the Spirit pressed harder on me than ever before - He questioned, why is it that we can know Christ all of our lives and become so complacent with things? Our words, our actions, our thoughts, our jokes. I really want you to take a look at your life (this goes for me as well) and question yourself... when you met Christ - did it change your life? You may say yes, of course it did! Okay - that's all good and all, but now ask this... Now that you've already met Christ, does your life still reflect that change?? Or does it find a balance with this world? Do you not smoke, drink, and go to a strip club, so... at least it's some justification to talk, act, and joke around impurely?
Now for the second part of thsi story... so the other night I was going to Subway after the gym and this homeless guy was outside and he asked me for bus fair... I had very little change on me, so I gave him what was in my pocket... I wanted to spend more time there... but for some reason, I didn't. So, I'm standing in line at Subway, and the homeless guy walks in... I thought, maybe I should buy him food? But he was just asking for bus fair... maybe I could've asked him if he was hungry... but I didn't. The guy sits down in the Subway, and honestly, his smell stenched up the place... like it was BAD!!! But no one in line said a word... a moment later, one of the ladies behind the glass pipes up and says "get up on outta here"... "yeah, I'm talking to you! you can't be in here like that... get up... get UP, and get OUT." I dunno guys... I felt SO horrible for him... all of these thoughts raced through my head... and before I knew it... he was gone. I WISH I would've said he's with me. Or I WISH I would've initially offered him food, so he didn't have to be humiliated like that... I WISH I could've offered him shelter, a shower, or even a decent meal.. I drove away that night wondering... WHY THE HECK AM I SO BLESSED?? Like, what makes me so important that I get to have a clean shower and a meal that night, but yet, he's still out there somewhere... and EVEN if he WAS lying, and he wasn't really homeless... he doesn't have to be there! He does not have to be stuck in that situation to feel that he has to lie to people for money... I dunno guys, that really hit me hard.
So this morning I read this:
James 1:26-27 - If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (NIV)
I dunno guys, it's time to step our game up... this life isn't about attaining jobs, or pursuing our studies, it's about what GOD wants to do with us - in our every word, action, thought, & even joke :)
(hopefully, this all made some sense! haha)
God bless!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Exposed
I've been listening to this sermon series on how we are "the salt and light of the world". It's a pretty standard message that, if you're a Christian, makes total sense and you've probably heard it as a kid. And I bet at this very moment, some of you are singing "this little light of mine" in your head. Admit it. :)
But...as we go through our Christian life, this term of being a light takes on a new meaning. As a kid, I always felt that I should let my light shine. But I took it in the sense of staying put and being a good person. Wherever you are, just try not to get caught up with the crowd, and when trouble comes, make sure you hold fast and shine. There was never a proactive approach with my light. It was stationary.
Then our group started this fast yesterday preparing for a summer event. After spending some time in prayer, I listened to a sermon that spoke from Ephesians 5. While the whole chapter is convicting, verse 11 really hit home: 11"Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."
To me...that means you should have a proactive approach with your light. When you see sin, your job as the light of the world isn't just to be the goody-two-shoes guys in the office who would never do that. Being a light exposes sin. Being a light is an active job.
So are you active with your light? When you see sin, do you expose it? Or do you stand around and let things slide. We can hold a flashlight in a dark room, but in order to turn the light switch on so everyone can see, we will need to physically shine the light around to find the switch. Jesus was the light of the world....and He didn't stay put. He made sure everyone saw the Light so that sin would be exposed. He gave us the template, so we just have to follow it. So while you go to class today, joke with friends at the office, or surround yourself with various people....ask yourself....what am I doing with my light?
God bless,
Jobbin
But...as we go through our Christian life, this term of being a light takes on a new meaning. As a kid, I always felt that I should let my light shine. But I took it in the sense of staying put and being a good person. Wherever you are, just try not to get caught up with the crowd, and when trouble comes, make sure you hold fast and shine. There was never a proactive approach with my light. It was stationary.
Then our group started this fast yesterday preparing for a summer event. After spending some time in prayer, I listened to a sermon that spoke from Ephesians 5. While the whole chapter is convicting, verse 11 really hit home: 11"Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."
To me...that means you should have a proactive approach with your light. When you see sin, your job as the light of the world isn't just to be the goody-two-shoes guys in the office who would never do that. Being a light exposes sin. Being a light is an active job.
So are you active with your light? When you see sin, do you expose it? Or do you stand around and let things slide. We can hold a flashlight in a dark room, but in order to turn the light switch on so everyone can see, we will need to physically shine the light around to find the switch. Jesus was the light of the world....and He didn't stay put. He made sure everyone saw the Light so that sin would be exposed. He gave us the template, so we just have to follow it. So while you go to class today, joke with friends at the office, or surround yourself with various people....ask yourself....what am I doing with my light?
God bless,
Jobbin
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Think Global
4 weeks and counting....that's how long it's been since we have had small group. In case you don't know, our youth group meets every other Sunday for small group/Bible study and I just so happen to lead it. But my life has been so crazy for the past month, I just have been way too bombarded to lead it. And to make things worse, I absolutely love leading small groups and its driving me crazy that we haven't had one yet!
To be fair, I have been really busy with good, productive, personal things, but at the same time I haven't been able to properly meditate and prepare with the Word as I wanted to. So this week I finally hunkered down and spent some time studying the Word and really praying about what God wants me to do over the next few months. And He spoke loud and clear....
Think bigger. We get caught up in a lot of good things. Even good spiritual things. We might be nice, church going people who even read the Word and pray regularly. That's where I found myself....but something was still lacking. I felt that I was doing the will of God in my life....but the funny thing is God's will is SO much bigger than the personal will for our particular lives. He has a Global will in mind too.
We all know the story of Jonah...but one particular note about it caught me. He was a prophet!! Here is someone who actually understands the character of God Himself, and still refused to do His will. That's because Jonah was selfish and even though he wanted to serve God as a prophet, he cared about God's personal will for him rather than God's global will. A perfect example of this is that Jonah literally got angry after God showed mercy on Nineveh! (Jonah 4:1-2) Who does that? Why would he get mad at God saving someone? But when the vine he was getting shade for withered away, he became angry again because it affected him personally.
I love how the book of Jonah ends. It ends with a question from God, and I felt He was asking the same question to me and I hope you feel convicted too when you read it. Jonah 4:11: "But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" How does this relate to me not leading Bible study? Simple...I need to spend more time furthering God's GLOBAL will instead of my own. Developing youth into a community for Christ is our mission. We can spend all day praying and fasting for our personal needs, but at the end of the day, God is asking us to be concerned with something greater.
To be fair, I have been really busy with good, productive, personal things, but at the same time I haven't been able to properly meditate and prepare with the Word as I wanted to. So this week I finally hunkered down and spent some time studying the Word and really praying about what God wants me to do over the next few months. And He spoke loud and clear....
Think bigger. We get caught up in a lot of good things. Even good spiritual things. We might be nice, church going people who even read the Word and pray regularly. That's where I found myself....but something was still lacking. I felt that I was doing the will of God in my life....but the funny thing is God's will is SO much bigger than the personal will for our particular lives. He has a Global will in mind too.
We all know the story of Jonah...but one particular note about it caught me. He was a prophet!! Here is someone who actually understands the character of God Himself, and still refused to do His will. That's because Jonah was selfish and even though he wanted to serve God as a prophet, he cared about God's personal will for him rather than God's global will. A perfect example of this is that Jonah literally got angry after God showed mercy on Nineveh! (Jonah 4:1-2) Who does that? Why would he get mad at God saving someone? But when the vine he was getting shade for withered away, he became angry again because it affected him personally.
I love how the book of Jonah ends. It ends with a question from God, and I felt He was asking the same question to me and I hope you feel convicted too when you read it. Jonah 4:11: "But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" How does this relate to me not leading Bible study? Simple...I need to spend more time furthering God's GLOBAL will instead of my own. Developing youth into a community for Christ is our mission. We can spend all day praying and fasting for our personal needs, but at the end of the day, God is asking us to be concerned with something greater.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
All around me...
I know this is extremely late, but I just couldn't think of what to write about... to be honest, I don't even know right now. Lol - all I know is that I like there are so many things happening all around me in this world and I don't necessarily feel responsible for them occurring, but rather, I do feel like it is our/my duty/responsibility to uphold my friends and others (in this world) in prayer... some may call that... a burden, I guess.
I know God has a mighty plan for this up and coming generation... He's calling out a generation to be strongly founded on Him - not like the guy who 'cleverly' builds his house on the sand only to have it topple at the first torrent of waves, instead, MUCH like the guy who wisely builds his house on a strong solid foundation (ie. the ROCK) - it's this man that represents the generation that God is calling out these days... He doesn't want the feeble minded... He wants leaders who are willing to say "God, from here on out, all I am, and all I have, is Yours." He wants leaders who are willing to say "Although there are storms, and the world may tell me I am not safe... I will look to You and know that I am secure."
Guys, he wants leaders who are willing to say, "ENOUGH with this second-hand dual-tone life that I'm living, I want to live for Christ, and if that means giving up every part of me, including ever last breath, then so be it."
There are people out there in this world: men, women, and children - who are lost and need our help - they are the homeless, the en-slaved, the hungry, the depressed... the broken... and it's US who are called to reach out to them. Let's keep them in our prayers, and open ourselves up to what God is calling us to do... He has a purpose in each and every one of our lives, and He's going to let you know what that is exactly... But when that happens will yo ube able to say:
"Despite what the world may want me to believe, despite the chaos all around me, despite the questions I don't have answers to... Lord, here I am, tell me what you'd like me to do today."
It's a bit scary to think that God still gives us an option to say Yes or No even though He asks us of certain things, but in all honesty, it's up to us, as leaders, to set aside ourselves, focus on God, consider this world, and do what God has called us to do in it...
God bless
I know God has a mighty plan for this up and coming generation... He's calling out a generation to be strongly founded on Him - not like the guy who 'cleverly' builds his house on the sand only to have it topple at the first torrent of waves, instead, MUCH like the guy who wisely builds his house on a strong solid foundation (ie. the ROCK) - it's this man that represents the generation that God is calling out these days... He doesn't want the feeble minded... He wants leaders who are willing to say "God, from here on out, all I am, and all I have, is Yours." He wants leaders who are willing to say "Although there are storms, and the world may tell me I am not safe... I will look to You and know that I am secure."
Guys, he wants leaders who are willing to say, "ENOUGH with this second-hand dual-tone life that I'm living, I want to live for Christ, and if that means giving up every part of me, including ever last breath, then so be it."
There are people out there in this world: men, women, and children - who are lost and need our help - they are the homeless, the en-slaved, the hungry, the depressed... the broken... and it's US who are called to reach out to them. Let's keep them in our prayers, and open ourselves up to what God is calling us to do... He has a purpose in each and every one of our lives, and He's going to let you know what that is exactly... But when that happens will yo ube able to say:
"Despite what the world may want me to believe, despite the chaos all around me, despite the questions I don't have answers to... Lord, here I am, tell me what you'd like me to do today."
It's a bit scary to think that God still gives us an option to say Yes or No even though He asks us of certain things, but in all honesty, it's up to us, as leaders, to set aside ourselves, focus on God, consider this world, and do what God has called us to do in it...
God bless
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Power in Prayer
Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
So I had finals this week and I've never studied so much in my life!!!! I prayed and studied for the past week and did nothing else. Today I found out that a couple of my close friends didn't pass the final that we all were afraid of. I didn't check my grade after hearing everyone saying they didn't make it. These were the people I was studying with. " If they didn't make it, what makes me think I did?" For 30 minutes, I was walking around school with my blood pressure up the roof and my heart rate at 200. I didn't want to check my grade, but as I was walking I was praying to Jesus that his will be done in my life and that he gives me strength. The peace that I had was no where near. All these doubts came into my head and remembering that I didn't pass two semesters ago came to my head. So finally I went to a lab and got to computer and before I clicked I put my hands in front of my eyes and as it came up and I moved two fingers and saw 85.7 and remember I needed an 83. God is good.
1 Corinthians 15:10 - But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me--and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.
I don't remember how much I cried out to God besides this semester. When your desperate, I believe God will help you. I have one more final and we'll see how I do.
So I had finals this week and I've never studied so much in my life!!!! I prayed and studied for the past week and did nothing else. Today I found out that a couple of my close friends didn't pass the final that we all were afraid of. I didn't check my grade after hearing everyone saying they didn't make it. These were the people I was studying with. " If they didn't make it, what makes me think I did?" For 30 minutes, I was walking around school with my blood pressure up the roof and my heart rate at 200. I didn't want to check my grade, but as I was walking I was praying to Jesus that his will be done in my life and that he gives me strength. The peace that I had was no where near. All these doubts came into my head and remembering that I didn't pass two semesters ago came to my head. So finally I went to a lab and got to computer and before I clicked I put my hands in front of my eyes and as it came up and I moved two fingers and saw 85.7 and remember I needed an 83. God is good.
1 Corinthians 15:10 - But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me--and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.
I don't remember how much I cried out to God besides this semester. When your desperate, I believe God will help you. I have one more final and we'll see how I do.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Modern-Day Good Samaritan
So today I went to check my e-mail on yahoo.com and on the main page, Yahoo lists a bunch of headlining news in sports, finance, the whole nine yards. The one thing that caught my eye was an article about a Good Samaritan in New York who happens or should I say "happened" to be homeless. I'll give you a bit of a synopsis of what the article talked about:
A homeless Guatemalan immigrant was walking on the sidewalks of New York one night and in front of him was a couple. After a few moments, the couple started to talk more aggressively and out of no where became physically aggressive. The homeless man obviously saw what was taking place and decided to intervene. He tried to separate the two quarreling people but the man fighting with his girlfriend pulled out a sharp weapon and repeatedly stabbed the homeless man until he was reduced down to the ground in a pool of blood. The couple quickly parted ways leaving the poor Good Samaritan man there to die in his own blood.
Now, what shocked me was that the woman involved in the quarrel didn't even try to stop her boyfriend/murderer, but instead fled from the scene of the crime. The badly wounded man laid there even after a few pedestrians walked past him. Not one of them called the authorities. One man even poked at the body thinking it was just another drunk homeless guy laying on the streets of New York. One lady finally called 911 but when the police arrived at the scene, the man had already died. They don't know at what point the man passed, whether it was before or after the man poked at the man's dying body.
This is really a new despicable low for the human race.
When I read this story I felt hatred for the man who committed this senseless crime and for the men and women who stood idly by while a man died right in front of their eyes. It broke my heart to even imagine what that man was thinking before he intervened. Did he think he had nothing to lose if the man did or didn't retaliate? Or did he feel it was his duty as a citizen to rise up and act when he is a witness to something like this? He did the right thing, just as Jesus did for us when he sacrificed himself, to help the woman in distress. She is like us sinners who lived and breathed sin, and who didn't comprehend or even care that someone died for us. This story made me think if Jesus is still trying to show non-believers the truth and the reality of his death on the cross through real-life instances and examples. Maybe this story will bring lives to come to know Christ and to realize the true meaning of Christ's death and resurrection.
R.I.P. Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax
Thanks for reading
Jonathan
A homeless Guatemalan immigrant was walking on the sidewalks of New York one night and in front of him was a couple. After a few moments, the couple started to talk more aggressively and out of no where became physically aggressive. The homeless man obviously saw what was taking place and decided to intervene. He tried to separate the two quarreling people but the man fighting with his girlfriend pulled out a sharp weapon and repeatedly stabbed the homeless man until he was reduced down to the ground in a pool of blood. The couple quickly parted ways leaving the poor Good Samaritan man there to die in his own blood.
Now, what shocked me was that the woman involved in the quarrel didn't even try to stop her boyfriend/murderer, but instead fled from the scene of the crime. The badly wounded man laid there even after a few pedestrians walked past him. Not one of them called the authorities. One man even poked at the body thinking it was just another drunk homeless guy laying on the streets of New York. One lady finally called 911 but when the police arrived at the scene, the man had already died. They don't know at what point the man passed, whether it was before or after the man poked at the man's dying body.
This is really a new despicable low for the human race.
When I read this story I felt hatred for the man who committed this senseless crime and for the men and women who stood idly by while a man died right in front of their eyes. It broke my heart to even imagine what that man was thinking before he intervened. Did he think he had nothing to lose if the man did or didn't retaliate? Or did he feel it was his duty as a citizen to rise up and act when he is a witness to something like this? He did the right thing, just as Jesus did for us when he sacrificed himself, to help the woman in distress. She is like us sinners who lived and breathed sin, and who didn't comprehend or even care that someone died for us. This story made me think if Jesus is still trying to show non-believers the truth and the reality of his death on the cross through real-life instances and examples. Maybe this story will bring lives to come to know Christ and to realize the true meaning of Christ's death and resurrection.
R.I.P. Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax
Thanks for reading
Jonathan
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Becoming like Christ
I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
- Gandhi
I found this quote just now and I started thinking about it more closely. What he states is so true. People who call themselves Christian rarely act like Christ acted. Generally speaking, these Christians go to church only on holidays like Christmas, Easter, or any other type of celebration. If we call ourselves Christian, we should become Christ like. In everywhere in our life, we must be like him such as in our talk, behavior, and the way we act. It's hard to be like Jesus in this day and age but we have to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give us strength and courage to be portray Christ in our life and not be ashamed. I urge you guys to pray that people see Jesus when they see you.
- Gandhi
I found this quote just now and I started thinking about it more closely. What he states is so true. People who call themselves Christian rarely act like Christ acted. Generally speaking, these Christians go to church only on holidays like Christmas, Easter, or any other type of celebration. If we call ourselves Christian, we should become Christ like. In everywhere in our life, we must be like him such as in our talk, behavior, and the way we act. It's hard to be like Jesus in this day and age but we have to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give us strength and courage to be portray Christ in our life and not be ashamed. I urge you guys to pray that people see Jesus when they see you.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Selfless
Matt 14:13: When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. (NIV).
I've been reading the book of Matthew lately and I've come to this familiar portion of the Bible that I bet we all have heard before. Jesus fed 5,000 people with just five loaves and two fish. But for some reason, verse 13 really stuck out at me, especially because of the beginning. Why did Jesus withdraw himself to be alone? If you get a chance to read the chapter, you can see that the verses before this whole miracle occurs is the story of how John the Baptist was killed. In case you don't know, that was Jesus' cousin.
Now think about this for a second. You just hear the news about a tragedy in your family. Not just any family member, but a very close friend. What do you do? How would you react? Often times in our lives, we deal with problems, heartache, frustration, and sadness in so many different ways. Jesus Himself just wanted to go away and be by Himself as we read in the verse. The crowds on the other hand, didn't really cooperate with this plan; so they followed him anyways.
Put yourself in Jesus' shoes at that moment. All you want to do is be alone, but thousands of people still crowd around you, not leaving you alone for one second, bringing their problems, frustrations, and burdens to your feet almost without any regard to what you are personally going through. Doing youth ministry for about 5 years now, that would drive me nuts. Not that I am some big expert on helping others, but I try to be there for my friends whenever they need me. But if I was going through a low point in my life, I would find it EXTREMELY hard to forget about my current circumstances and just focus on others. We are human after all.
But look at how the heart of Jesus is so different from ours. He was moved with compassion so much that when His people would come to Him, He couldn't even stand to send them off without eating. He didn't think about Himself but took the time to heal the sick who came to Him. Even in the time of despair, He still showed compassion, mercy, and love to 5,000 people.
At a time where most of the world is celebrating Easter weekend, and this might be the only time you might see some friends, family, and coworkers actually attend church, this story symbolizes what Jesus was sent to Earth to do. Having a selfless attitude, He constantly gave Himself for others, never once thinking about His own benefit. By being an example for us and showing us that even in the times of trouble and despair, compassion and love should overcome everything. To me, that is the biggest miracle of all.
God bless,
Jobbin
I've been reading the book of Matthew lately and I've come to this familiar portion of the Bible that I bet we all have heard before. Jesus fed 5,000 people with just five loaves and two fish. But for some reason, verse 13 really stuck out at me, especially because of the beginning. Why did Jesus withdraw himself to be alone? If you get a chance to read the chapter, you can see that the verses before this whole miracle occurs is the story of how John the Baptist was killed. In case you don't know, that was Jesus' cousin.
Now think about this for a second. You just hear the news about a tragedy in your family. Not just any family member, but a very close friend. What do you do? How would you react? Often times in our lives, we deal with problems, heartache, frustration, and sadness in so many different ways. Jesus Himself just wanted to go away and be by Himself as we read in the verse. The crowds on the other hand, didn't really cooperate with this plan; so they followed him anyways.
Put yourself in Jesus' shoes at that moment. All you want to do is be alone, but thousands of people still crowd around you, not leaving you alone for one second, bringing their problems, frustrations, and burdens to your feet almost without any regard to what you are personally going through. Doing youth ministry for about 5 years now, that would drive me nuts. Not that I am some big expert on helping others, but I try to be there for my friends whenever they need me. But if I was going through a low point in my life, I would find it EXTREMELY hard to forget about my current circumstances and just focus on others. We are human after all.
But look at how the heart of Jesus is so different from ours. He was moved with compassion so much that when His people would come to Him, He couldn't even stand to send them off without eating. He didn't think about Himself but took the time to heal the sick who came to Him. Even in the time of despair, He still showed compassion, mercy, and love to 5,000 people.
At a time where most of the world is celebrating Easter weekend, and this might be the only time you might see some friends, family, and coworkers actually attend church, this story symbolizes what Jesus was sent to Earth to do. Having a selfless attitude, He constantly gave Himself for others, never once thinking about His own benefit. By being an example for us and showing us that even in the times of trouble and despair, compassion and love should overcome everything. To me, that is the biggest miracle of all.
God bless,
Jobbin
Monday, March 29, 2010
Time
I'm feeling very down. Maybe it was meant for me to be late on the blog this week, so I can write about something that has been hitting my heart for awhile now, and has once again hit my heart today...
In a world so busy and filled with the chaos of our busy work/school schedules, our study habits, and the need for chilling with our friends... we have become soo conformed to the act of "pencil-ing Jesus in"... we say, "Oh... prayer? We'll see." OR "I'm not sure if I have something else going on, but I'll let you know..." OR (in my opinion, the worst response) needing to make up some other excuse to cover-up our "not wanting to actually come into the presence of God together, and just pray"...
Our ministry has begun on prayer, and I commend the efforts thus far of those that gather together "just to pray"... (and no, I'm not bragging at all, but I AM speaking truthfully) because in all honesty, it's not "just to pray". It's about coming into the throne room of God, seeking His grace, feeling His comfort and warm embrace. It's about getting to know who He is, so that we too can become like Him. It's about meeting with Him, and possibly, just possibly, seeing Him face-to-face - the thought of it just brings a chill to my spine.
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." - Romans 12:12 (NIV)
We may not look at this verse and consider the possibility of conforming to "pencil-ing Jesus into our schedule," but it's evident in our lives, and it is, in fact, conforming. How often do we pencil things into our schedule that we are not sure we can commit to? That is what the phrase is used for, isn't it? For events or things in our lives taht we can't exactly commit to, just yet? But then we pray to God - "change our Lives, change our City, change our Hearts" - ever realize that most of the time we pray for things from God that would essentially fill-up our schedules more and deter us from spending time in His presence? LOL, it's actually pretty funny - it's a responsibility - it's our duty to pay our due regards to Him.
He gave us soo much!! He's worth our time - (that sentence in itself is ridiculous to say, as though our time is something that's even of worth in comparison to Him!)
This isn't a shot at anyone in particular. This is that truth that each of us that claim to be committed to God, that claim to be Christ-followers should acknowledge and apply in our lives. God knows our hearts, and He sees our devotion - Let's give to Him what we can, not just our tithes/offerings, not just our services, but also our time. He wants to use you, He wants you to experience what it means to be at his threshing floor, He wants to meet you at that well and converse with you... I suggest it's about time we go out and meet with Him, as well.
God Bless!
PS. here's a link to a video a friend of mine made (randomly!) at the same time I was writing this blog... I must say, it's funny how God works so amazingly sometimes to inspire people's hearts with the same message.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2fmRAQnjIQ
In a world so busy and filled with the chaos of our busy work/school schedules, our study habits, and the need for chilling with our friends... we have become soo conformed to the act of "pencil-ing Jesus in"... we say, "Oh... prayer? We'll see." OR "I'm not sure if I have something else going on, but I'll let you know..." OR (in my opinion, the worst response) needing to make up some other excuse to cover-up our "not wanting to actually come into the presence of God together, and just pray"...
Our ministry has begun on prayer, and I commend the efforts thus far of those that gather together "just to pray"... (and no, I'm not bragging at all, but I AM speaking truthfully) because in all honesty, it's not "just to pray". It's about coming into the throne room of God, seeking His grace, feeling His comfort and warm embrace. It's about getting to know who He is, so that we too can become like Him. It's about meeting with Him, and possibly, just possibly, seeing Him face-to-face - the thought of it just brings a chill to my spine.
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." - Romans 12:12 (NIV)
We may not look at this verse and consider the possibility of conforming to "pencil-ing Jesus into our schedule," but it's evident in our lives, and it is, in fact, conforming. How often do we pencil things into our schedule that we are not sure we can commit to? That is what the phrase is used for, isn't it? For events or things in our lives taht we can't exactly commit to, just yet? But then we pray to God - "change our Lives, change our City, change our Hearts" - ever realize that most of the time we pray for things from God that would essentially fill-up our schedules more and deter us from spending time in His presence? LOL, it's actually pretty funny - it's a responsibility - it's our duty to pay our due regards to Him.
He gave us soo much!! He's worth our time - (that sentence in itself is ridiculous to say, as though our time is something that's even of worth in comparison to Him!)
This isn't a shot at anyone in particular. This is that truth that each of us that claim to be committed to God, that claim to be Christ-followers should acknowledge and apply in our lives. God knows our hearts, and He sees our devotion - Let's give to Him what we can, not just our tithes/offerings, not just our services, but also our time. He wants to use you, He wants you to experience what it means to be at his threshing floor, He wants to meet you at that well and converse with you... I suggest it's about time we go out and meet with Him, as well.
God Bless!
PS. here's a link to a video a friend of mine made (randomly!) at the same time I was writing this blog... I must say, it's funny how God works so amazingly sometimes to inspire people's hearts with the same message.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2fmRAQnjIQ
Friday, March 19, 2010
This is our God
I was about to fail and go on my old ways of addiction but I didn't want to. I want to fight on and charge through the tempation. I went to you tube and randomly clicked on a song by Hill song called " This is our God". Basically, the song talks about how Jesus who gave up his own life for us. This was an act of love for us and forever he is glorified. This song reminded me Jesus died on the cross for my sins and that I shouldn't go my old ways. It touched me and gave me strength and I hope it reminds you that we're here by no accident but because he loved us so much.
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Thursday, February 25, 2010
Planning
So I went to Florida for a week to visit family and just to relax. But of course the moment we leave freezing Chicago to go somewhere nice and sunny....the cold weather followed us all the way down South. Months of planning for a nice trip with friends and family started to unravel and things didn't work out to how we planned. And one by one, different situations started to pile on me during the only time I planned to have a real life vacation. Work was getting hectic, school was getting busier, family concerns, problems with friends, stress about church....you name it and it hit me during my vacation.
But all I could help think about was that I am not in control of this. If I really did trust in God, He would be faithful to get me through this. I had this feeling that right when I got back from vacation, everything would be just fine. It wasn't.
Right when I landed into O'Hare airport, I felt the weight of the world lie on my shoulders. Literally the next week was so overwhelming that I felt I needed a vacation again. When all my conflicts were too much to handle, and things weren't going according to my expectations, my friends and I got together for our usual Thursday Night Prayer. That night I felt the burden I was carrying around, lifted right off my shoulders. Just getting into God's presence and casting your cares upon Him helped relieve some of the tension.
Is my life still hectic. Yes. But I learned a lesson through all of this. No matter how much we plan, or expect things to work out in a certain way, God has a better plan. My thoughts are not Your thoughts, my ways are not Your ways. As long as we trust in Him, completely, He will see us through till the end. So keep that chin up...spring is just around the corner.
-Jobbin
But all I could help think about was that I am not in control of this. If I really did trust in God, He would be faithful to get me through this. I had this feeling that right when I got back from vacation, everything would be just fine. It wasn't.
Right when I landed into O'Hare airport, I felt the weight of the world lie on my shoulders. Literally the next week was so overwhelming that I felt I needed a vacation again. When all my conflicts were too much to handle, and things weren't going according to my expectations, my friends and I got together for our usual Thursday Night Prayer. That night I felt the burden I was carrying around, lifted right off my shoulders. Just getting into God's presence and casting your cares upon Him helped relieve some of the tension.
Is my life still hectic. Yes. But I learned a lesson through all of this. No matter how much we plan, or expect things to work out in a certain way, God has a better plan. My thoughts are not Your thoughts, my ways are not Your ways. As long as we trust in Him, completely, He will see us through till the end. So keep that chin up...spring is just around the corner.
-Jobbin
Friday, February 19, 2010
Just a story? I think not...
So as important as it is to look into worship, pray, and think about events, etc... it's very important to be focused on the Word. Why? Well... because "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God" - John 1:1 (NIV) so basically since God is the Word, (meaning He can be held to His own words and still remain as the utmost righteous, powerful, and amazing God that He is without being justifiably discredited or thought of as a hypocrite), it's important.
That being said, a friend of mine had showed me this excerpt by Chuck Missler, which offers great insight and unravels the mysteries of the Word itself. I thought it was pretty cool to share this with you guys, so here is the link:
All in all, what is revealed is that hidden within some of the first few names introduced in the Bible (10 altogether) is found the Gospel itself.. a love story unraveled within the first few chapters/books of God's Word. Just goes to show that this isn't JUST a story, it was His love being shown all throughout His word, both creatively planned, and unraveled by God.
Check it out!!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
God is good all the time and all the time God is good
God is good all the time and all the time God is good. I'm sure you all have heard this saying before and yes it is true even if things don't go your way. I studied for a test that I had recently and I put in so much time studying. I never studied so much in my life and I was expecting to get a B but instead I got a D. I was so pissed off because I put so much time but yet received such a bad grade. WHY???? I was confident that God was going to help and it clearly seems he didn't. I was pissed off but then I recognized that everything happens for a reason. I guess I need to study harder or find another strategy because obviously the one I have isn't working that well. Here's my point. It could be alot worse than it is. I have rotations at the hospitals and I see so many sick people who can do barely anything for themselves. I have the ability to breath, to walk, to use my fingers, to praise him with my mouth. No matter what happens, good or bad, we have to give God all the glory and praise. As for my grade? It sucks but I have three more exams and I need to study harder.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
The Reason I'm In ROC 3:22
Hey readers of this blog,
I hope all is well and life is being nice to you, because I know God has made life a blessing for me since He started this ministry within our hearts. Even as the problems of everyday life flew by, what with school, family life, work; God made sure I knew He was there showing me the way to walk and talk. I've had my fair share of shortcomings and so I ask for your forgiveness as I try to become a better Christ follower. The reason I'm writing this is to open up myself to you and because I can throw my feelings and experiences onto the keyboard and hopefully they would find their way to those who need uplifting. To start, I felt the reason I call myself a ROC 3:22 leader, is because ever since we started this group, I wanted to see souls won for the Kingdom through ROC 3:22 and so far I have not seen that with my own eyes. And I'm not even saying we have not succeeded either because I see it as a work in progress. I believe we've succeeded in other ways like bringing those who are in Christ even closer to Him through small groups and our weekly Thursday Night Prayers and our events. Thats why I think I'm in this Ministry; to see God's work in progress; to witness the birth of new Christ followers, and to share with them the experiences of my life as a Christ follower. To be perfectly honest and with a little shame, I say that before this Ministry came to be, I did very little to further my relationship with Christ, but with the help of my Brothers in Christ and the drive to see souls saved, I can now say that I want nothing more than to help build a community for Christ and to exercise my own relationship with Christ and I hope this inspires someone out there to start their walk with God and help in the mission to save others too.. thanks for reading and opening your hearts!
-Jonathan-
I hope all is well and life is being nice to you, because I know God has made life a blessing for me since He started this ministry within our hearts. Even as the problems of everyday life flew by, what with school, family life, work; God made sure I knew He was there showing me the way to walk and talk. I've had my fair share of shortcomings and so I ask for your forgiveness as I try to become a better Christ follower. The reason I'm writing this is to open up myself to you and because I can throw my feelings and experiences onto the keyboard and hopefully they would find their way to those who need uplifting. To start, I felt the reason I call myself a ROC 3:22 leader, is because ever since we started this group, I wanted to see souls won for the Kingdom through ROC 3:22 and so far I have not seen that with my own eyes. And I'm not even saying we have not succeeded either because I see it as a work in progress. I believe we've succeeded in other ways like bringing those who are in Christ even closer to Him through small groups and our weekly Thursday Night Prayers and our events. Thats why I think I'm in this Ministry; to see God's work in progress; to witness the birth of new Christ followers, and to share with them the experiences of my life as a Christ follower. To be perfectly honest and with a little shame, I say that before this Ministry came to be, I did very little to further my relationship with Christ, but with the help of my Brothers in Christ and the drive to see souls saved, I can now say that I want nothing more than to help build a community for Christ and to exercise my own relationship with Christ and I hope this inspires someone out there to start their walk with God and help in the mission to save others too.. thanks for reading and opening your hearts!
-Jonathan-
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Get personal
A new year brings new resolutions. But you hear it all the time how your buddy who started his gym membership in January has quit by the beginning of February. Why does that happen? How come we set goals and never follow through?
I’ve thought about this and have tried to be creative about setting goals, and being prepared. But in the end, the same excuses, and same problems prevent us from moving forward with a change we actually want in our lives. Sometimes the simple answer is to go back to the basics. Why do you want to go to the gym this year? Why do you want to cut out some of the bad influences in your life starting this January? Why do you want to spend more time with God THIS year?
As with any change in your life...It’s got to be a personal reason. I’m not talking about that fake, general answer we all lie to ourselves with.
“I’m gonna starting hanging around good people.” Uh huh....I’ll believe it when I see it.
“I wanna lose weight because its just the right thing to do.” Sure.
“I want to read the Bible every day so I can be a better Christian.” Yeah right.
Don’t get me wrong....the reasons above can be legitimate. But most of the time, they fade away quickly. Try digging a little deeper with your family/friend/yourself and you’ll find a rooted, personal reason for the wish to change.
“I found those negative influences hurting my relationships”
“I lost a family member to health reasons so it inspired me”
“My life is out of control without God so I need to get closer”
If you set a goal, there has to be a burden or passion behind it. It can’t be a goal/change just because its New Years Day. It has to be a change that has a root cause. It has to be personal. With that, I encourage you to get closer with God this year. Not because you read it on a blog, but because having Jesus as your personal Savior must be just that. It’s got to be personal.
God bless,
Jobbin
I’ve thought about this and have tried to be creative about setting goals, and being prepared. But in the end, the same excuses, and same problems prevent us from moving forward with a change we actually want in our lives. Sometimes the simple answer is to go back to the basics. Why do you want to go to the gym this year? Why do you want to cut out some of the bad influences in your life starting this January? Why do you want to spend more time with God THIS year?
As with any change in your life...It’s got to be a personal reason. I’m not talking about that fake, general answer we all lie to ourselves with.
“I’m gonna starting hanging around good people.” Uh huh....I’ll believe it when I see it.
“I wanna lose weight because its just the right thing to do.” Sure.
“I want to read the Bible every day so I can be a better Christian.” Yeah right.
Don’t get me wrong....the reasons above can be legitimate. But most of the time, they fade away quickly. Try digging a little deeper with your family/friend/yourself and you’ll find a rooted, personal reason for the wish to change.
“I found those negative influences hurting my relationships”
“I lost a family member to health reasons so it inspired me”
“My life is out of control without God so I need to get closer”
If you set a goal, there has to be a burden or passion behind it. It can’t be a goal/change just because its New Years Day. It has to be a change that has a root cause. It has to be personal. With that, I encourage you to get closer with God this year. Not because you read it on a blog, but because having Jesus as your personal Savior must be just that. It’s got to be personal.
God bless,
Jobbin
Friday, January 15, 2010
Hey guys,
So as I was driving to work, I heard a song on the radio, called When did you fall – By Chris Rice, (I think this song is to his wife or something like that (it’s definitely to a girl though)). The artist questions “when did you fall in love with me?” and goes on to ask whether it was at certain places or stages in their relationship, but it got me thinking and relating it back to our TRUE Love, God. I was thinking of when DID God fall in love with us? …Fall in love with me? I knew the answer right away of course (thank you Sunday School!!) and it’s that He loved me before I was even born, before time even began, before… well, before anything even came into existence! Amazing, isn’t it? That our God knew us before we even had a chance to know Him? That our God LOVED us before we ever had a chance to even love Him back?
I must say, this year has been tough. You may say, oh 2009? NO. I mean 2010. Yes, all 14 days of it has been the craziest emotional roller coaster yet, possibly because I’ve been facing struggles and risks in all aspects of my life, pretty much back-to-back, since several days before 2010 had even begun. It was honestly very weird how things just kept popping up one after another, and I was even thinking “What is going on here!?!?” Because things just needed to stop!!!! You know how that feeling you get when you feel dizzy and the room around you keeps spinning? Yeah, that’s exactly how things kept feeling. I didn’t know what was going on, with school, work, family, friends… just ALL of life… it was just really weird how it was happening all at once. And then last week, I was about to take a shower (getting ready for work) and it hit me! Something I said at my church struck me and I knew it was God revealing it to me.
You may remember, but before leaving to Dallas (at the end of December) for my sister’s wedding, we had a worship meeting at my church, which I was able to share some things I have been meditating on, and things God wanted to share with His people that night. And the same words I spoke came to my mind. That Saturday night we sang the song Open up the Sky – By Deluge, in which the chorus reads: “We don’t want blessings, we want You”. That same night, the words God spoke through me, even made me shake for a second as I said them. God was saying, “if we ONLY knew the meaning of those words, of which we were singing, we would probably never sing them again!!! Why?? Because they meant that even if we had lost everything (the blessings God has provided us), then we would still be OKAY because we have God. This means that even if we lost our car, our house, our expensive clothing, our favorite relationships… etc… we would be OKAY because those are JUST blessings that God has provided for us in life, and since we still have not lost our relationship with God, (ideally) that should be enough for us.”
And since that day, all HELL broke loose in my life. (LOL) Or at least it felt like it did, and I didn’t have a clue as to why!! But even throughout all of the ‘random’ struggles and risks I was facing, there was one verse that kept going through my head, and I knew it was the Holy Sprit providing that comfort, just like He promised, and the verse is:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11
God loves me. And God has a plan and a purpose for my life. Just like He has for YOU. Never doubt it. His ways are always best and always work out for His people. His promises are always ever-lasting, and remember that when things don’t look like they’re going “according to plan”, just remember that it’s not our plan, it’s His. He knows your struggles, and He obviously knows His promises over your life, so don’t worry because He has a plan and a purpose for them, as well.
After being pleasantly reminded by God of those words I had spoken that night, I laughed because I realized that Satan has just been extremely busy at trying to make me fail in my faith. And that’s when I prayed this: “God, I’d rather have a “risk” in Your hands, than assurance in this world.”
And with that said, Satan has no grip on my life, nor yours. Take God’s promises and trust in Him. He knows the plans He has for you, plans only to prosper you, and not to harm you. Better yet, plans to give you hope, and a future. Our God is amazing, and is victorious in everything, we have not need to grow weary or faint; rather, we are able to stand victorious in Him through all of what life throws at us.
God Bless!
So as I was driving to work, I heard a song on the radio, called When did you fall – By Chris Rice, (I think this song is to his wife or something like that (it’s definitely to a girl though)). The artist questions “when did you fall in love with me?” and goes on to ask whether it was at certain places or stages in their relationship, but it got me thinking and relating it back to our TRUE Love, God. I was thinking of when DID God fall in love with us? …Fall in love with me? I knew the answer right away of course (thank you Sunday School!!) and it’s that He loved me before I was even born, before time even began, before… well, before anything even came into existence! Amazing, isn’t it? That our God knew us before we even had a chance to know Him? That our God LOVED us before we ever had a chance to even love Him back?
I must say, this year has been tough. You may say, oh 2009? NO. I mean 2010. Yes, all 14 days of it has been the craziest emotional roller coaster yet, possibly because I’ve been facing struggles and risks in all aspects of my life, pretty much back-to-back, since several days before 2010 had even begun. It was honestly very weird how things just kept popping up one after another, and I was even thinking “What is going on here!?!?” Because things just needed to stop!!!! You know how that feeling you get when you feel dizzy and the room around you keeps spinning? Yeah, that’s exactly how things kept feeling. I didn’t know what was going on, with school, work, family, friends… just ALL of life… it was just really weird how it was happening all at once. And then last week, I was about to take a shower (getting ready for work) and it hit me! Something I said at my church struck me and I knew it was God revealing it to me.
You may remember, but before leaving to Dallas (at the end of December) for my sister’s wedding, we had a worship meeting at my church, which I was able to share some things I have been meditating on, and things God wanted to share with His people that night. And the same words I spoke came to my mind. That Saturday night we sang the song Open up the Sky – By Deluge, in which the chorus reads: “We don’t want blessings, we want You”. That same night, the words God spoke through me, even made me shake for a second as I said them. God was saying, “if we ONLY knew the meaning of those words, of which we were singing, we would probably never sing them again!!! Why?? Because they meant that even if we had lost everything (the blessings God has provided us), then we would still be OKAY because we have God. This means that even if we lost our car, our house, our expensive clothing, our favorite relationships… etc… we would be OKAY because those are JUST blessings that God has provided for us in life, and since we still have not lost our relationship with God, (ideally) that should be enough for us.”
And since that day, all HELL broke loose in my life. (LOL) Or at least it felt like it did, and I didn’t have a clue as to why!! But even throughout all of the ‘random’ struggles and risks I was facing, there was one verse that kept going through my head, and I knew it was the Holy Sprit providing that comfort, just like He promised, and the verse is:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11
God loves me. And God has a plan and a purpose for my life. Just like He has for YOU. Never doubt it. His ways are always best and always work out for His people. His promises are always ever-lasting, and remember that when things don’t look like they’re going “according to plan”, just remember that it’s not our plan, it’s His. He knows your struggles, and He obviously knows His promises over your life, so don’t worry because He has a plan and a purpose for them, as well.
After being pleasantly reminded by God of those words I had spoken that night, I laughed because I realized that Satan has just been extremely busy at trying to make me fail in my faith. And that’s when I prayed this: “God, I’d rather have a “risk” in Your hands, than assurance in this world.”
And with that said, Satan has no grip on my life, nor yours. Take God’s promises and trust in Him. He knows the plans He has for you, plans only to prosper you, and not to harm you. Better yet, plans to give you hope, and a future. Our God is amazing, and is victorious in everything, we have not need to grow weary or faint; rather, we are able to stand victorious in Him through all of what life throws at us.
God Bless!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
I Called And He Answered
Hey guys,
I was sitting in from of my lap top wondering what to write and nothing came to me. I asked the Holy Spirit to give me inspiration and then I remember the song " He came to my rescue" by Hillsong. I remember this past year as a total life transformation as I was lost and now I'm found. I was living life without Jesus as a friend and I remember how hard life was. I had sleeping problems, addictions, and a void in my heart. I found Jesus and he took care of all my problems, addictions and filled that void with his love. Paranoia became everlasting peace, addictions were gone, and an unconditional love was given. When you come to Jesus genuinely, he gives more than you can understand and comprehend. I came to my knees, bowed down and I called him and he rescued me. Don't ever think there's no way out...there is and its Jesus. I hope this song blesses you as it does to me. Enjoy!
I was sitting in from of my lap top wondering what to write and nothing came to me. I asked the Holy Spirit to give me inspiration and then I remember the song " He came to my rescue" by Hillsong. I remember this past year as a total life transformation as I was lost and now I'm found. I was living life without Jesus as a friend and I remember how hard life was. I had sleeping problems, addictions, and a void in my heart. I found Jesus and he took care of all my problems, addictions and filled that void with his love. Paranoia became everlasting peace, addictions were gone, and an unconditional love was given. When you come to Jesus genuinely, he gives more than you can understand and comprehend. I came to my knees, bowed down and I called him and he rescued me. Don't ever think there's no way out...there is and its Jesus. I hope this song blesses you as it does to me. Enjoy!
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