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Thought:
Every single, seemingly small decision I make,
affects my purpose.
What I do with my purpose
affects my generation.
What happens in this generation will
affect the generation after.
“That is why we said, ‘Let us get ready and build an altar–but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices’. On the contrary, it is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that follow that we will worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings.Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no share in the Lord.'” Joshua 22:26-27
Ok so there’s this Facebook campaign that is calling all the atheists everywhere to come together on the 8th of November to have a minute of prayer to deny God.
Ahh people, who needs to watch T.V. when I get all the entertainement I want in real life?
The description says:
As you may already be aware, recently the Atheist Founation of Australia and the Global Atheist Convention websites were the target of a significant DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack, which began on Monday 19 October.
This is a call to all non-believers and advocates for freedom of speech to join us in a global co-ordinated minute of prayer with the aim of inundating God (in this context, the Christian god, God, as distinct from the Greek god, Zeus, the Egyptian god, Ra etc etc) with so many useless prayers that it causes his divineness to go offline as as result of our own DDOS (‘Divine’ Denial of Service).
The prayer minute will be at exactly 8pm (Eastern Standard Time) and 9am (Greenwich Mean Time) on Sunday 8 November 2009.
The prayer can be about anything you want (but say it as frequently as possible in the minute we have assigned to ensure DDOS is achieved) or to whomever god you want. Its mostly directed at the Christian god so as to ensure we don’t get too many return to senders from other gods.
10 thousand bonus points to those who can pinpoint what is so wrong here.
“If God limited himself only to what WE want and need, then he wouldn’t be who he is.”
When you say he doesn’t exist, the only thing that will go ‘offline’ is your heart–not him.
I don’t know, I’m just thinking, imagine if the big crowd who will go to this, turned their prayers of denial into prayers of acceptance, imagine what God would do with that instead.
As most of you could probably relate, for the past couple of weeks I’ve found it so hard to be passionate. What with all my assignments wearing me down and hormones going crazy I started focusing on things that are not worth my time. Most people liken passion to fire, but at the moment, my one feels more like tidal waves: they get bigger, then crash right back down. Whilst on the race, I made a pit-stop and paused a little too much.
A couple of days ago, I got back one of my big essays for uni, and expecting that with all the blessings God has been giving me recently, He’s going to add another by giving me a Distinction for this essay. But guess wat? I didn’t even get a credit, let alone a distinction. I got another measly pass, the same mark I’ve been getting all throughout my uni life. And I got so frustrated. I started questioning things. Myself mostly. Where I’m at.
Am I meant to be doing this?
Maybe I’ll just drop this course and look for a job, move on with my life.
Maybe I’m in a different story.
I’m not good at what I do.
Surely, 4 years of getting the same mark, that must say something.
And I got so down. Seriously. I ended up focusing on things that I didn’t have. Or things that I had but lost. I wasn’t blaming God or anything. I was just blaming myself. And so I slept with a heavy heart, asked God to just give me more strength to do the two essays I’ve got left, which by that time, I wasn’t even motivated to do anymore. I mean what for right? Should I even put any effort, knowing that I probably wouldn’t get what I deserve? I woke up, dragging myself in front of the computer, making myself feel better by doing what I have to do.
Maybe some of you are like that now; having felt elated with passion, you realise your circumstances haven’t changed. Failed relationships, demanding jobs, insecurities–these are the things that don’t really help keep that fire burning.
And so I was frustrated that I ended up screaming in my head, “No God, right now I don’t want your strength; right now, I want answers!” And man, what he does with demanding faith. He gave me Deuteronomy 4:32-38 (biblegateway dot com for the win!).
I used to think that what I read in the Bible were things that just happened in the past. They were GREAT, for lack of a better word, and are great examples of how God reveals himself to us; but I’ve always thought that those miracles–the cloud of fire, the victories–were things that happened to THEM and things that will never happen to ME. It’s different: my victories would consist of getting HD’s at uni, and landing a perfect job, and then maybe, changing the world. But when I got to that verse, God said to me that who he was then and who he is now has been the same ever since. And when I answered his call in this generation, whatever happened in those days, BECAME MY STORY TOO.
I will not live as this one person who got through uni and had a family and went to church; instead, when God looks at me, I want him to see me as someone who was part of this great story he’s created and that I continued it. I have been so consumed by winning this world’s standard: that if I get a Pass instead of a HD, if I wasn’t the best competitor, then I’ve pretty much failed it. Those people that Moses led out of Egypt towards the land of milk and honey were in the wilderness for so many years, it’s safe to say that perhaps some of them or possibly most of them had started to think, “Crap, we’re going to die here, we’re not meant for anything better but this great harsh land of nothing.” But God was telling them and telling me now that: NO! Don’t look at your circumstances, because I don’t, I never do. The most important thing is you hear my voice, that I took you out of that miserable state you were in and bringing you to my victory; that I’m HERE running this race WITH YOU.
When most people around me strive to get that success to have that sense of fulfilment according to this world’s standards, me, I’m winning something else. Don’t forget what you’re running this race for and who you were before you got to the starting line. 4 years of uni feeling miserable for not getting the marks I thought I deserved; feeling that I’m not as smart as I thought I was, I can say that nothing much has changed. Well, definitely not my marker’s love for me anyway. For those who can relate to this, I want you to understand (like I have) the most important thing: Even though your situation hasn’t changed, YOU HAVE. When you chose to run God’s race, you’re not bound by your circumstances anymore.
YOU’RE BOUND BY PURPOSE.
So if you’ve felt like you’re at the pit-stop right now, go now, and keep running.
Ate Heids asked me something today:
Ate Heids: “Aemi, Why do you worship?”
SHE CALLED ME AEMI!? What is this?!! (Aemi is my twin sister, if you’re a bit lost right now).
So after we’ve cleared up this little confusion, I was really hesitant to answer initially. First of all, I had an essay to do, if I was to get intense, I’d rather it all be poured out on my essay and maybe get a HD for it. (ha sif!) Second, I was just not ready for that. Something so simple hey…Seriously Ate Heids, really, do you really want me to answer now?!
But I did and it led me back to this revelation I had a few months back (and if you love biology, hello, double bonus for you):
There are two ways (that I know of) to get the heart pumping faster than normal: one is when we exert force such as when we do exercises or any physical activities; two is under situations where we get excited or scared and adrenaline is released. In both cases, your body starts to need more oxygen and so an increase in oxygen level is crucial. To answer to that need, your heart starts to beats faster to get the oxygenated blood from your lungs to get to our oxygen-deprived muscles faster.
And this was the most interesting thing that caught my eye: As our blood flow speeds up, our blood vessels expand considerably to accomodate more blood. When I was reading up on this, I was asking, “God what are you trying to say to me?” It’s so funny; when you ask, he’s always so excited to answer. I was on YouTube that time, listening to praise songs, and guess what song I was led to? It’s this song by avalon called OXYGEN.
HA! Coincidence? I think not! Here’s the chorus:
“You are my oxygen
I breathe You in
I breathe You out
You are my oxygen
You are my love
You are what life’s about”
And so it hit me: just as our bodies need more oxygen, when we desire MORE of God, our capacity to RECEIVE expands as well.
And this is why I worship: when I abandon everything I hold on to and lay myself out there, I cease to exist, and I start living.
My challenge for you guys today, when you worship, do so with your heart pumping, your mind open, your soul screaming and as if everything in you is expanding for more of him.
“Don’t be one of those people who looks for ways how to live life to the fullest.”
I was born in an era where there are so many options, it’s easy to get lost in them. I was talking to a friend not too long ago and we were discussing about our desire to make a change in the world. The only problem is, there’s nothing to change anymore. If we were born a century ago, we would be fighting for women’s rights. A couple of decades back, freedom rights for the discriminated. But now, everything that needs to be done had already been done.
And how many young people do you know are thinking that way? Walking through life trying to find a purpose, jumping from one desire to the next, hoping that it would give them validity? The generation today has the most options, the most liberated generation compared to all the other ones, and yet, why aren’t we heard?
The suicide rate amongst the youth has soared so high, I bet even the heroes of the past would get the shock of their…lives (hahah yes, attempt at “humour” right there). Teen pregnancies, depression, rape, violence…you know that there’s something wrong when fulfillment is replaced by increasing emptiness. Apparently people today are growing up slower; that is, when years ago you stopped being a child when you turn 9 and became an adult as soon as you could work on the field, today, at 28 years old, you’re not even called an adult yet. Suddenly we’re surrounded by kids too involved with themselves and at the same time not knowing where to go and what to do.
I grew up with the Philippine’s national hero’s famous quote: “The youth is the hope of the future” and as a kid, I used to be so proud of that. As I grew up, I found myself being chucked to the side thinking, “No, that’s impossible now. There’s nothing else to do anyway, and even if there was, what can I do? I’ll leave that to someone else.” And I’m quite certain there’s a whole lot of us with the same mind-frame.
But as I’ve recently learned, I shouldn’t be looking for ways how to live my life to the fullest; instead, I should be doing what this generation OUGHT to be doing. I was put in this generation, not out of coincidence and not so I could spend the rest of my life trying to figure out what it is I’m meant to be doing–I was placed in this generation because clearly, there are things that still need to be done, and I am an agent of change.
You want to know your purpose? You want to live life to the fullest? Then why are you looking anywhere else? God has the plan, He has the word. He just needs a voice. Are you looking for a big miracle, for the skies to open up to show that He exists? Well guess what? He’s not going to do that. He is looking for people that would seek to hear His voice which comes in nothing but a whisper in an era that is abound of things that vie for our attention. And you have to answer that call.
Like in Joshua 22, I also fear for that day when the next generation looks at me and says, “Why would I run after God? What did you do with Him anyway?” It’s terrifying to know that if I don’t answer His call now and choose not to be a part of this, I would not only fail my generation, I would also fail the next.
I’m leaving a legacy; that I was part of a generation, an army that ran the race and never looked back.
And since I’m bad at ending things…I’ll end this with: “I LOVE JHONI!!!” (haha)
…He was probably crying.
That’s the thought that came into my head one morning, followed by a conversation that was conjured up in my head between God and one of his accomplices, let’s say an angel called…Bob (yeah, creative right?). So through this randomness that I have, which I’ve already accepted as a gift from God, I will strive to know how much he loves me and to be enveloped in that love.
Setting: God’s workshop, on the day slash time slash moment he was creating Abbie.
Angel Bob:
Oh Holy One, what doest thou?
God:
Bob, seriously, we’re having this conversation IN Abbie’s head. You know she can’t keep up with your Shakepearean references.
Angel Bob:
OK, cool. I was getting slightly worried as well.
So, what are you doing? (looks over) Oh. Are you going to create her?
God:
Yeah. Don’t you think she’ll be wonderful and great?! Here, look at the plans I’ve got for her. (hands over the blueprint)
Angel Bob: (looks at the blueprint)
Uhh…God. Are you sure about this? I don’t know…this bit here, look, it’s a bit shakey and inconsistent. You sure you want to do that?
God:
Of course! Remember that time when there was NOTHING? There was just darkness? And then I created the universe, the stars, the sun; and then the birds, the mammals, the sea and everything else in it? Remember how grand that was? Well those are all for her.
I want to do this, I exist for her.
Angel Bob: (stares at God)
Even though the place you’re going to put her in is surrounded by evil and temptations? Even though you know that the pain and disappointment that will be inflicted on her will almost certainly cost your intimacy with her? You like creating beautiful things don’t you? Why don’t you just create another lovely peacock or something better? Won’t she just make you cry? Look at those tears now, I can hear your heart breaking already.
Is it worth it?
God:
You’re right Bob, I do love creating beautiful and majestic things. And that’s exactly the reason why I’m creating her. I can always create something better, but right now, I’m forming the best. Don’t worry, she’s not complete yet. Yes, I know of the risks, I know of her downfalls and yes, I know that she’ll turn away from me at some point.
But I want her to choose me.
(a smile starts to form, eyes show excitement) And when she does find me, when she starts longing for me the same way I long for her right at this very second, then I shall RESTORE her. To restore her and complete her in my love, wouldn’t that be BEAUTIFUL?
So yes. It is worth it.
“Lack of creditworthiness is an instance of inability.”
And so I stopped reading my book on International Trade Law (yeah, I know…). Why did I stop? I am 2 weeks behind my readings, I have an essay due in a few days. I just wanted to bloody finish this chapter, which has already taken me 3 days to read.
But something in me needed to reflect on that sentence. Ok, background on what I was reading: Basically it’s about the legal contracts that govern the actions between a buyer and seller in different countries (at least that’s what I think it’s saying haha). Anyway, so I was on a roll, had only a few pages left and was on that part where it explains what happens when a party is anticipated not to perform its obligations under a contract. Then I got to that sentence:
“Lack of creditworthiness is an instance of inability.”
I had to look this up. What does it mean to be creditworthy? I’m not an entrepreneur but I think in business terms it means a person’s or a company’s ability to meet their debt obligations.
When I became a Christian, I entered an agreement with God; he will do things for me and I will have to do things for him. To liken with the Parable of the Bags of Gold in Matthew 25, the servants came into an agreement with the master when he asked of them to take care of his wealth while he was away. To each of the servants, bags of gold were entrusted according to one’s ability. As the story goes, two of the servants put the money to work and gained more than the original amount and when the master returned, he commended their works and were given MORE. Creditworthiness here, then, thus mean the measure of our credibility to meet our obligations.
So when I entered this “contract” with God, suddenly I was given an obligation to use what was entrusted in me and make it fruitful. And if I carry out this task well, I will be “put in charge of many things” and “share my master’s happiness.” That’s the agreement. Carry out my task excellently, and I will be in charge of more. More? You mean I have to work so I could work some more?
John Eldredge commented, my boys do not do their chores so that in the end they could clean the whole house. They do their chores so that they could do what they love doing after. If I then become fruitful with my obligations, it is agreed upon that I will spend an eternity of joy with God. To share his happiness. And it’s not difficult to know what he delights in. He asked Job, “Prepare to answer me. Have you given orders to the morning? Do you know where light and darkness reside? Do lightning bolts report to you? Can you count the stars?” And on and on he went boasting with pride in taking care of his creations. Now, imagine what honour it would be to be able to share that job with him.
In my book, it goes on to explain that if a party is deemed incapable of performing his obligations, the contract will fundamentally be breached or cut off. On the grounds of anticipation of a non-performance, it will constitute by itself an anticipated fundamental breach, that is, if the party is showing signs that it is not creditworthy, then it is enough to say that it is unable to complete its obligations. If it is unable to complete the obligation under the contract, then the contract is fundamentally breached, severed, broken.
What happened with the third servant in the parable? Because he didn’t do anything with the bag of gold he had, and instead gave back to his master the SAME amount he was entrusted with initially, he was called worthless and was thrown out. John 15:2 points out, “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.” It’s part of the agreement I have with God; to be ABLE to share the happiness of being in charge of what he is in charge of in eternity, I need to show that I am CREDIBLE to make fruitful the gifts and capacities I was endowed with. I’m not saying I need to prove myself worthy, that somehow I need to gain his love and his trust. Love is given freely and unconditionally by him. And because of that love, he has faith.
I was made in the likeness of God, I was created with the same capacity. I was created to take my place next to him sharing his happiness. But if I just let my talents waste away here, if I never got to know that the bag of gold I have could become FIVE BAGS of gold, would I be able to know what I could add to the splendour of God? Otherwise, my lack of creditworthiness would anticipate my inability and will thus lead to the termination of the contract.
“His plan is for us to develop, as apprentices to Jesus, to the point where we can take our place in the ongoing creativity of the universe.”
Question is, are you ready for that kind of influence?
(Edit: I wrote this entry the day before my birthday but didn’t get to post it. I’ll post it anyway because it serves as a reminder to myself that I have a part in this great story.)
Ok it’s weird, I have been seeing the number 22 everywhere. Fb posts were posted 22 hours ago, my inbox has 22 emails, my blog was viewed 22 times, I have 222 friends on this social networking site…or something other. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe because it’s leading up to my birthday that this normal number just started becoming more prominent in my eyes.
So I was born on the 22nd of August. I’m turning 22. I am a twin. There’s really nothing out of the ordinary there, but those can’t all be coincidences. I looked up events in history that fell on this date and there were pretty interesting ones (aside from all the political revolutions and assassinations); I noticed alot of discoveries such as the discovery of theft of Mona Lisa in 1911; of GOLD in Johannesburg, South Africa 1926; of the FIRST RING of Neptune in 1989; and of course, of Australia in 1170, when Captain James Cook landed on the eastern coast. On August 22 1941 German troops reached Leningrad and seiged it after. That was the start of World War II. A year after that, Brazil declares war on Germany and Italy.
As for births, it would’ve been great if there were any Queens and Kings and Leaders born on this day, but alas, I didn’t see any. I did notice births of many artists, poets, writers and physicists (physicists?!). A sign perhaps?
What’s the whole point of this? I really don’t know, but I bet you guys are going to look up now what historical events happened on YOUR birthday, aren’t you? hahah *Start a trend: DONE, boo-yah*
It does seem though, that lately, I have been subjected to prod into the day I was placed here on Earth. It’s not that I ever thought I was a mistake and that I had no place here, but just how IMPORTANT that day really was. I was told that God was thinking of me even before I was born, and last night when I was reading, it was revealed to me that he wasn’t just thinking of me, like how I think of certain people say, when I’m bored, or when I miss someone. When he thought of me, I was already predestined to be great. There was already a plan, just for me. I wasn’t chucked into this world and then was told, “Hmm, ok you can take the role of a teacher. Or maybe a poet.”
I was already ready to be moulded into the image of Christ, to lead the way for my future children. The day God thought of me was the same day I was CHOSEN and CALLED. So when I was born on the 22nd day of the 8th month in the year 1987, God was already setting up ways to justify the plans He has for me. Everything that happened on the same day years before that , the discoveries and the wars, probably had nothing to do with me. It was probably someone else’s story. But here I am, turning 22 in less than 24 hours . What have I been doing all these years? I’ve stumbled along the way, got lost for a bit, ran around in circles; Tomorrow, I will not only celebrate the day I was born, but it shall be thus marked in history the day I let God say, “Let me uphold and prove the purpose I have for you.”
And wouldn’t it be great, on that day, I will be glorified by the same God who justified me?
I’ve never been a patient person. I’d like to think that I am, and for a while I was in a delusion thinking that I was. But in reality, I have a short-fused temper, and I despise sitting on my ass waiting for things to happen to me while my precious time ticks away. I make things happen when I want them, how I want them. I get frustrated at people who do not take the initiative to do anything and they start complaining that the whole world is against them. The world doesn’t need lazy people like you son, here’s a dollar, go take your problems somewhere else.
But as I’ve realised there are some things that are completely out of my control. And whenever I tried putting these matters into my own hands, I’ve always come face-to-face with failure. It’s been hard placing faith in God. It sounded so easy saying I’m faithful when I was younger, but as I grew older and my desires for certain things grew with me, it got harder and harder for me to let God take over. It’s funny now, what the hell was I thinking asking God to step aside because I thought I could handle it? He must’ve been laughing at me and saying, “Oh yeah? Can you really?”
I’m trying to regain my faithful heart. It’s especially hard for a controlling person like I am, but I am starting to understand how much bigger God is compared to me. And these mountains in my way, they’re NOTHING to him. So I’ll wait. I absolutely can not (even if I tried) fathom how his mind works but I know he’s not just sitting there, holding things out from me just because he feels like it. He’s working everything out. I can’t obviously see the woods for the trees at the moment, but he can, and he knows his plans for me. If I just learn to let go and let God (did I get this from Ally?) I know when the time comes, everything will be complete, nothing will be lacking. How can things go wrong when he’s already said YES to it?
At the same time though, this does not mean I have an excuse to idle around and wait for things to unfold. I presume sitting and waiting, and going with the flow are just as bad as trying to control things. I put my trust on the great plans he has for me and because I know he’s got great plans, I can’t be the same person as I was and I am now when I do receive it. What can I say when he tells me “These are all for you, are you ready for it?” I can’t be this weakling, stubborn, immature person that I am now. I want to be able to say, “Are you crazy God?! I’ve been preparing for this my whole life, psch, yeah come on, give me your best shot!” I have to get myself ready- make sure there’s enough petrol in my tank, I’ve cleaned my windows, put on my glasses, checked the tyres, adjusted all my mirrors- so when God gives me the GO sign, I can just let go of the brakes and go for it.
- The center of our Milky Way Galaxy
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands. -Psalm 19:1
AMAZING FACTS we have to know about this universe:
- At the equator (the Earth is not spinning at the north and south pole), the Earth is rotating at a speed of about 2200 km per hour. That’s 52,800 km in one day. But we can’t feel it because the speed remains constant. If the earth slows down or speeds up, everything on earth would change drastically.
- The human eye can only see about 3,000 stars out of approximately 100,000,000,000 in our galaxy ALONE! It’s like holding just a handful of sand from all of the sand on all the beaches in the world combined.
- Our galaxy alone is so HUGE that if you could travel at the speed of light (299, 337 km per second) it would still take 100,000 years to cross it.
- About 25% of the universe consists of “dark matter” and about 70% consists of “dark energy”, leaving only about 5% of the universe visible to us.
- The Earth’s Sun, when it becomes a Red Giant in 5 billion years, will expand to a size that will go beyond the orbit of the Earth by 20% and will shine 3,000 times brighter. Whether the Earth will be spared of vaporisation or not is still being debated.
- 65 million years ago a huge asteroid slammed into Earth which left 70% of all the world’s species extinct, including the dinosaurs. Scientists have speculated for more than a decade that the entire surface of the Earth below would have been baked by the equivalent of a global oven set on broil.
If you want to know how BIG and UNFATHOMABLE our Creator is, look no further than where it all started: the universe.
No matter how far the human race has come ever since we discovered civilisation and progress, we are still discovering the universe’s unpretentious wonders and greatness. And every time, we get amazed over and again.
We realise that the whole universe that our minds can’t comprehend, and all our senses can’t discern, is ALIVE. It’s hot and it’s breathing, ever expanding and ever growing. There are billions of star nests, where stars are born every second. And they exist merely to show the grandness of God. Every single day in its lifetime, from the day it was created, the universe EXISTS and SINGS and DANCES (click on Auroras and Magnetic Reconnection on NASA page) just to glorify the Creator.
But like all things existing, they all die. As a star grows bigger, it will consume nuclear fuel until it runs out and then it undergoes a supernova, where it collapses in on itself to the point of infinite density, which we call a black hole. And it makes one think, the glorious planets and stars and galaxies, live and die just like that. They don’t have to worry about jobs or kids or their future. They are born, they exist, and they die.
Why is it then, that some of us keep forgetting what we’re here for? And some of us don’t even know what it is? Apparently, if we liken the size of the Milky Way Galaxy (where our Solar System is found), to the size of the entire continent of the US, our Solar System ALONE will be about the size of a US quarter (24.33 mm or the size of the new Ipod Shuffle). That means our SUN and all the nine planets would be microscopic dust on the US scale. And yet, out of the vast universe and every single matter that God had majestically put in place, HE CHOSE US. Out of all the suns that are burning incessantly, the matters that will never be visible in our eyes, out of the hundred billion stars he can name one by one, he chose to humble himself to our level– a tiny spec of his Creation–and gave up everything. We didn’t come to being by mere chance; it wasn’t a coincidence that we weren’t alive 65 million years ago, or that we weren’t born 5 billion years from now.
We are small, but we are one step ahead of the universe. We are not here only to glorify him, as with all creations, but we were CHOSEN to have the opportunity to run after his heart and to have an intimate relationship with him.
Pointless Lessons 