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
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
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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