I will run to You

And I will run to You
To Your words of truth
Not by might, not by power
But by the spirit of God
Yes I will run the race
'Till I see Your face
Oh let me live in the glory of Your grace

Yes Lord, I will run the race till I see Your face. Your face will be my goal. It'll be my endpoint that drives me. An invisible encourager that supports me. Be my strength, be my tower, for no one else would catch me if I fall. None but You.

nature

Did You rise the sun for me?

Or paint a million stars that I might

Know Your majesty?

Is Your voice upon the wind?

Is everything I've known marked

With my maker's fingerprints?

Breathe on me

Let me see Your face

Ever I will seek You

'Cause all You are, is all I want, always

Draw me close in Your arms

Oh God, I wanna be with You

Can I feel You in the rain?

Abandon all I am to have You

Capture me again

Let the earth resound with praise

Can You hear as all creation lives

Breathe on me

Let me see Your face

Ever I will seek You

'Cause all You are, is all I want, always

Draw me close in Your arms

Oh God, I wanna be with You

'Cause all You are, is all I want, always

Draw me close in Your arms

Oh God, I wanna be with You

Earlier today, I went to the park near my house for a jog. After the jog, I laid rested facing the waterfall present there. As I look upon nature and how beautiful it is, everything just reflects back to God, how beautiful, how wonderful He is. Just like the Creator, the creation reflects His work. How detailed and careful He was when He created all His masterpiece. None of them are the same, not even close. Resting and enjoying the peace there, it somehow brings back memories from Teenstreet last year. Surrounded by His glory, in His embrace. It felt really nice, being able to just take a break off the busy schedule, reflecting on Him and just thinking about Him with all that you see. Adding onto it was the smell of the soil after the rain, the hustle of the leaves as they brush against each other, the sounds of birds chirping singing a new song and the rush of water pouring. He was, really, thinking of us when He made all these. Thinking of me. Even in the rush of the day, may each and every single one of us take a time off. A time just for Him and Him alone, nothing else.

Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever. ~ Psalm 106:1

do you trust me?

I think trust is a very heavy word. Not many people can be trusted and yet, less people who are willing to give their trust. But in everything, we know that we can trust in Him, the One who has never and will never fail us. Job 8:13-15 tells us that "Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless. What he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spider's web. He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold." That's for the one who puts his trust. But what about the one who is being trusted? The Bible says in Luke 16:10 that "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

future

I do not know the future. I do not know what it holds for me. I have no idea at all what it might bring. Everything is so uncertain, so unclear. But the thing that I know and I can be sure of is that, He knows the plans that He has for me. He is clear of what is happening and what is to come. He will make sure that things are the best for me, if, I am obedient.

¹²The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. ¹³And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, ¹⁴ and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. - Deuteronomy 28:12-14

love

Love, often misconstrued, misrepresented, misinterpreted, misunderstood and misused. Love is misconstrued with strong physical attraction, lust, commonness, or the attraction to an individual’s characteristics, and appealing or non-appealing qualities. The word 'love' is just thrown around everywhere to everyone, without really knowing the meaning behind it, without sincerity when saying it. Is 'love' really just as simple as that?

A pastor who came to my recent youth camp said, "It is only really 'love' if, you can replace 'love' and 'it' with your name and, be able to read the passage out loud without laughing or thinking 'yea right' "

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸Love never fails.

Are you able to do so? Thinking about what you've just read out loud after reading them makes you wonder if you really 'love'. Love, is not just a feeling at that moment. Its not just some words for people to throw around just because it sounds nice. But instead, love is a commitment. It is a promise.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear ... 1 John 4:18

blessings

City on our Knees

If you gotta start somewhere why not here

If you gotta start sometime why not now

If we gotta start somewhere I say here

If we gotta start sometime I say now

Through the fog there is hope in the distance

From cathedrals to third world missions

Love will fall to the earth like a crashing wave

Tonight’s the night

For the sinners and the saints

Two worlds collide in a beautiful display

It’s all up tonight

When we step across the line

We can sail across the sea

To a city with one king

A city on our knees

A city on our knees

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

If you gotta start somewhere why not here

If you gotta start sometime why not now

If we gotta start somewhere I say here

If we gotta start sometime I say now

Through the fog there is hope in the distance

From cathedrals to third world missions

Love will fall to the earth like a crashing wave

Tonight’s the night

For the sinners and the saints

Two worlds collide in a beautiful display

It’s all love tonight

When we step across the line

We can sail across the sea

To a city with one king

A city on our knees

A city on our knees

Oh-oh-oh

Tonight could last forever

We are one choice from together

Tonight could last forever

Ooh

Tonight could last forever

We are one choice from together

As family

We’re family

Oh Tonight could last forever

We are one choice from together

You and me

Ya, you and me

Tonight’s the night

For the sinners and the saints

Two worlds collide

In a glorious display

Cuz its all love tonight

When we step across the line

We can sail across the sea

To a city with one king

A city on our knees

A city on our knees

Oh oh oh

A city on our knees

A city on our knees

Oh oh oh

If we gotta start somewhere why not here

If we gotta start sometime why not now

I was going to write about counting one's blessing when this song started playing on Joy FM, and when I heard the first few lines, I thought, 'Hey, thats true. If you're gonna start counting your blessings, why not start now? why not start here?' At times, we just see past our blessings and criticize and complain for whatever that seems to be even a little flawed in our sight. Instead of looking at the dirt on the window plane, why not start looking at the meadow and field outside the window? I just need to be reminded from time to time, that each and everything comes from Him. Even little little blessings that often, doesn't seems to make any difference, without. Life just keeps going on and sometimes we just get so caught up in the busy-ness of things and miss out on the simple things that bring joy in life. Yes, indeed, time and tide waits for no man. But once the time has gone, we don't have a UNO deck to pull the 'reverse' card out, for there is, no reverse here. So, let us all slow down, and not trailing the pace of others. Move at your own pace that you may not miss out on counting the blessings that has been bestowed upon you by Him who deeply loves you.

He prunes

Pruning does hurt eh? But I guess that's just part of our life. Him, trying to make us more and more fruitful, more and more like Him. Most of the time, it ain't easy. It hurts a lot, bringing out our worst side, bringing out the worst in us. But at the end of the day, after all the molding and making, cutting and mending, we would grow. Grow to be more fruitful, grow to be more and more like Him so that we might be able to glorify Him and honour Him in everything that He does. I guess this time, He's just and still, trying to implant more and more patience in me. I can't deny that I don't have much patience at times, which is I guess, most of the time. But referring to what He has said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." John 15:1-2, I guess I'll just have to pass the test, or not it'll not move on =) for there is no 'fail' here.

I still remember our D-Teams had a discussion once, something to do with pruning and things like that. One of the things that I clearly remember is that, even though pruning hurts, but its for our good. Its for us to be more and more like Him =)

'Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's fault because of your love.' - Ephesians 4:2

chutzpah

read>

Matthew 15:21-28

"Dear woman," Jesus said to her, "your faith is great. Your request is granted." And her daughter was instantly healed (v.28).

When I was growing up, my father kept one can of WD-40 in the house and another in the his car. It seemed it was the be-all and end-all for almost every mechanical problem. But what is WD-40? It literally stands for Water Displacement 40th attempt.

In 1853, chemist Norm Larsen was attempting to concoct a formula a prevent corrosion - a task which is accomplished by displacing water. Larsen's unyielding tenacity and persistence paid off when he perfected the formula on his 40th try.

Matthew introduces us to a Gentile woman who had this same kind of persistence. Her daughter was violently and cruelly demon-possessed (15:21). She had no hope of ever seeing her daughter normal again, until she heard that Jesus was in town. She had heard about Jesus' power and the miracles He had worked in the lives of others, and she believed He could help her too. So she approached Jesus boldly and persevered with unyielding tenacity, even when everything and everybody seemed to be against her. Her race, religious background, gender, the disciples, Satan, and even Jesus seemed to be against her (v.24).

Despite these seeming obstacles, she did not give up, but pushed her way through the dark corridors of her desperate need. She had chutzpah (khoot-spuh), a Jewish/Hebrew word for headstrong persistence, unyielding tenacity, bold determination, and raw nerve. Jesus complimented her chutzpah and rewarded her faith by healing her daughter (v.28).

Sometimes we pray, and if we don't get an answer the first time, we give up. That's not chutzpah! Chutzpah is having the raw belief, the deep trust, and the confident hope to be persistent with God, believing that He is good, just, and loving, and that He desires what's best for us. -Marvin Williams

more>

Matthew 7:7-11

Luke 18:1-8

1 Thessalonians 5:17

next>

How have you demonstrated your faith through chutzpah in prayer lately? What prayers have you seen answered as you've persisted in calling on God?

This really spoke to me yesterday as I was doing my devotion. I had decided to stop praying about something that's on my mind just because He said 'no' for the first time. It didn't occur to me that the answer 'no', might be a 'yes' at another time, when the time is right. For in Ecclesiastes 3:1 states that 'For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.' I didn't think that He might have it in His plan, in the near future. I thought of it as a clear-cut no. A definite answer that would never ever change at all. Not even move a slightest bit. I guess it's just His way of talking to us, letting us know what's on His mind. Now that He has made it clear, I shall continue to pray about it until things change, or not. But at the end of the day, I know that He wants the best for me, and if that's not the best in His time, then I guess, it just means that I'll have to learn to accept the facts =)