Thought for the day...

"I am personally convinced that there are two major areas of defeat for most Christians. The first is the unprofitable reliving of the past, nursing either wrongs committed against us or regrets for sins we have committed. The second is unwarranted preoccupation with the future."

I am personally convinced too I think.

And a third one to add to the list- failure to pray.

Thought for the day...

Sublime.

Hey! It's me again :)

I just want to share my heart's thoughts before they slip away amidst other things...

Recently, I have been so blessed to witness so much of nature's beauty. You know, those that make you kind of melt... Sublime, yes. ("Sublime" happens to also be the name of a Spanish song which I'm currently listening to)

Just not long ago, a sister was asking me about Romans 1:19-20 and what it meant.
I was thinking it shouldn't be difficult to explain. But you know, its just not the same explaining creation in words and witnessing it in action for yourself. And finally I got the chance to...

Courtesy of Sandy Chan

Isn't it AWEsome?

We were on the bus that was driving towards Jalisco, Guadalajara. It was around 7.00 in the morning. The bus was very quiet except for some soft snores because everyone was sleeping. For some reason I felt very awake and decided to just enjoy the scenery along the way. On my side of the bus (right), I couldn't see the sunrise, it was more of grassland and mountains. But then when the sun started rising, it reflected on the pane of my window and I turned around immediately to the awesome sight! Haha words wanted to explode out of my mouth. But then I decided to leave a moment for myself to just worship in silence before disrupting the serenity of the sunrise.

After that, I ran to tap on my friend's shoulder very gently so that she would not wake up startled but rather respond gently. I was just trying to preserve it for as long as I could...

"Sandy, sandy wake up... Look outside, the sun is rising..."

Haha her immediate reaction was "Wah..." then whipped out her camera next to capture that shot above. Thank God she did cos my camera died just when I pressed the shutter. Urgh.

Thereafter, we just stood there observing the silence and wishing the bus would drive slower.

Instinctively, I felt that there had to be music to express our heart's thoughts. So, I took out my mp3 and played "Alas and did my Saviour Bleed" (revised version with uber Cello), I gave one side of the earpiece to her. Then, I told her while keeping my eyes glued to the sun, " This is what I meant by Romans 1:19-20."

"in the things that have been made", we know God; his eternal power and divine nature.
Hence, we are "without excuse" to not know that a Creator exists. We do not give glory to creation but rather, to the Creator. However, our sick hearts have worshipped nature's beauty.

Along the way and before, I saw many other manifestations of God's ingeniousity in creation that never fails to make my heart leap with joy and sing with praise. Indeed, Mi corazon te canta. My heart will sing in witness to God's beauty even if my lips don't sing. I think each time we do this, our hearts get refined and very rejuvenated. 是一种心灵美化. We can look at magnificent man-made creations but do you realise they never rejuvenate us?

So, friends and siblings, I hope we can spend more time with nature (while we truly can) and appreciating it in all its glory (reflected from God). And then spend time to praise and worship Him, who is above all. Let your heart sing.

Now, please enjoy the following :)

Chipinque Nature Reserve in Monterrey

Leaf that looks like a butterfly

Spider's web

Purple, my favourite :)

Flowers in all colours, shapes and sizes

Dandelions

And more sunrise... Melt away...

And then finally, the sun sets...

Courtesy of Jessica Tso

(If I hadn't turned back to glance while walking, I would have missed this mesmerizing sunset)

Have a good day!

In pursuit of…?

This came in my e-mail a couple of days ago, a sobering reminder from a fellow Christian:

Recently, if you have read the news, the stabbing cum suicide incident that took place in the place I am currently serving in (NTU). It came as such a shocking and surreal piece of news to the whole staff team. But what struck me most was not only the tragedy of the whole incident – it was the response that people have towards this incident that took me by grief and pain: the boy who committed suicide simply became the talk of the school and the focus of many bad jokes. Suddenly, it seems that the boy's life was only worth the amount of headlines it has made; the value, anguish and pain of a human life tarnished by sin seemed to have been completely ignored. Indeed, it was such a stunning indicator of the indifference towards LIFE among the city-dwellers.

My heart was heavy after reading this short paragraph.
A reflection later in the week brought more questions to light.

What do we use to measure a person’s worth these days?
The answer to these question is apparent when we examine what we pursue today: academic excellence, brilliant CCA record, loads of money, friends’/bosses’ approval, money, cars, property etc. When we become obsessed in our pursuits, we become so absorbed in it, we see our life as just consisting of these. Consequently, we measure other people’s worth based on what we think as important. In doing so, we have (unknowingly?) debased and devalued life.

There are really 2 issues here: What satisfies us today? What do take other people for?

What satisfies us today?
We’re made for eternity (Ecc 3:11), so the things of time cannot fully and permanently satisfy. The world’s satisfactions are too small for us. There’s gotta be something more!! And we know it through the Word!

John 6:35
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst…”

John 10:10
“…I came so that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

What do we take others for?
In this ego-centred city-world we built for ourselves to live in, in the blind relentless pursuit of impermanent things to stuff in the God-shaped hole in us, we often see others as means to our own ends, others as instrumental to attaining our goals. In doing so, we forget that beyond the walking flesh and blood lies a soul that God deeply loves. Do we see others as aimless wandering souls in our midst?

What can I do?
There could be another guy (just like the NTU student) around you, who don’t speak openly of his anguish and pain, of his desperation to find something worth living for. If you aren’t going to reach out to him, who will? While we have this imperishable hope in Christ, immense satisfaction in knowing God himself, do we desire that others partake in the same grace?

1 Peter 1:13
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

I earnestly pray that we:
will be free from spiritual myopia and not be hardened and oblivious to the needs of others
have the wisdom to know the things that truly matter in life
have the desire to pursue them
have the conviction to help others to pursue them