Inspiring Truths

2 Timothy 3:16 " All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"

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Isaiah 60:19 “The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. “

“Let this hope cheer us under all difficulties, and stir us up to all diligence, that we may have an abundant entrance into this everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”  Matthew Henry Commentary

May this vision of the awesome future that we can have in Christ someday be always with us as we enter into another new and exciting year. Cheers!

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Colossians 3:8 “But now you also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy talk out of your mouth."

Anger seems to be one of the hardest sinful habit to put aside or as we always say, manage. Maybe it’s because we don’t really take it seriously, and that it’s so easy to make excuses for every burst of anger. But as Christians (the verse is directed towards believers), new or seasoned ones, we have to put away or abandon all these social sins. 

For me, anger is like a shrapnel bomb. Stressful or unpleasant situations trigger our anger, and then we explode! Boom! And after awhile, we cool off thinking all is well, but the damage has been done. The shrapnel has hit our loved ones, friend, colleagues, employees, etc. as Eleanor Roosevelt said “Anger is one letter away from danger.”  We may justify our words and actions, but we don’t know what negative effects it may have on the people around us (even if the anger was not directed at them). Some may heal and move on, and some may not. 

We, sometimes, forget words have power and can either build up or pull down others. Ephesians 4:29 reminds us “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” 

May our words always be always with grace, seasoned with salt. (Col. 4:6)

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Psalm 136 (KJV)

His Loving Kindness Endures Forever

(2 Chronicles 7:1-3; Psalm 135:1-21)

1O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

2O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.

3O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.

4To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.

5To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.

6To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.

7To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:

8The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever:

9The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever.

10To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever:

11And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever:

12With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever.

13To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:

14And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever:

15But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever.

16To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.

17To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:

18And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:

19Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever:

20And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever:

21And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever:

22Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever.

23Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:

24And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.

25Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.

26O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

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28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. - from Isaiah 40:28-31

Everlasting God  is one of my favorite Gospel songs. I love how it reminds me  constantly of God’s promise that He is almighty and powerful. I’m comforted in a way that I know whatever I’m going through, He will be with me and give me enough strength to push through.

Waiting upon the Lord does not mean to just passively sit around waiting for a sudden boost of energy from God. It takes effort from us to seek Him wholeheartedly, recognizing and remembering that we are weak on our own. To receive new strength from the everlasting God is to release our own human and weak strength. 

Renew means to make (something) new, fresh, or strong again, to begin (something) again especially with more force or enthusiasm. We are after all still human beings (grows weary and faint) and we tend to go back to relying on our own strength from time to time. The need for trusting and relying on the constant renewal of strength (physical or spiritual) from God is essential in living a Christian life of endurance. 

May we always be comforted that as we wait on the everlasting God, He shall sustain us with enough strength to soar above our circumstances like eagles, to run the race as faithful servants and sojourners in spite of physical and spiritual exhaustion, and lastly to walk in His ways faithfully.

Did you know that Everlasting God, a famous award winning song, is also an amazing life testimony of Brenton Brown and his wife Jude. They were diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome when he wrote this song, and it was largely based on Isaiah 40:28-31. 

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14Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. from Philippians 2:14-16

Have you ever WANTED something and it seems to be so far fetched? And then you make that low, heavy sound. That’s grumbling. Grumbling means to complain quietly about something or to talk in an unhappy way. 

When we complain to other people, we also rob them of their joy. Instead of inspiring others to live beyond their circumstances, it causes them to stress about your complaints and start grumbling about their lives as well. Constant grumbling is contagious and is a serious sin against God. It makes people focus on the problems instead on focusing on our big almighty God. Who are we as creations question our creator?

Remind yourself that murmuring or ranting won’t change anything. It can’t even give us what we always wanted. Rather look around you and observe everything. There’s is so much to thank God for. You’ll start to appreciate what’s in front of you. Appreciate means to understand the worth or importance of something or someone and to be grateful for something.

Do yourselves a favor: Trust God that He knows what’s best for us. Trust and obey His perfect plan for our lives.

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Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

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Fruit of the Spirit Challenge - Self-control

“He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” from Proverbs 25:28 

Let us guard ourselves from our old sinful nature. Having self-control is having the power (with the help of the Holy Spirit) to resist temptations that are against God’s will. It takes daily spiritual discipline to achieve godliness. Without self-control, it would be very hard to bear all the other fruit of the Spirit. We would easily crumble down and struggle every time we face worldly temptations, because sin keeps on tempting us to go back to our old ways.

1 Peter 5:8 “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour.”

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"And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; ” from 2 Timothy 2:24-25

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Fruit of the Spirit Challenge - Faithfulness.

“for we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7) As Christians or followers of Christ, we are called to walk by faith. We are always identified with our faith. Others may call it blind faith, because they need to see it to believe it. But we know He’s always there faithful to fulfill His promises in our lives. The Bible has many accounts of God’s faithfulness. He never fails.

Let us keep nurturing our faithfulness in Him by seeking His perfect will and resting in His guidance even when things doesn't makes sense. I believe everything will soon fall perfectly into place. 

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Fruit of the Spirit Challenge: Goodness.

“ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.“  (Romans 12:1-2)

Let’s check our hearts for what motivates us to do good. Everyone can be good and do good, but it is up to us to choose who to please and follow.

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Fruit of the Spirit Challenge: Kindness.

" Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. " - Philippians 2:3-4. These verses probably sums up what kindness is all about - humble, sincere, selfless acts of love bringing hope, joy, and happiness to others.

I like how Dr. Maya Angelou, an American writer and poet, wrote: " Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud." Through simple acts of kindness, we can simply brighten up someone's cloudy day. God wants us to be rainbows of hope and blessings to our loved ones and even to random strangers, and maybe... somehow... they can experience Him.. through us.

To God be all the glory. Amen!

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Fruit of the Spirit challenge - Patience:

"He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly “ from Proverbs 14:29

This year, i hope to improve my patience and understanding. Life can be more peaceful and harmonious if everyone would show grace under pressure, have more patience with each other, and respect each others perspective and opinions.

Happy 2015!!! :)

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"A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.“ from Proverbs 14:30

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Fruit of the Spirit Self-check Challenge: Joy

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” from James 1:2-3

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Fruit of the Spirit Self-check Challenge - Love. " Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Matthew 22:37-39

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You are who your friends are. on We Heart It.

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"What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.“ from Psalm 56:3

Sometimes life can get scary and you feel lost and all alone. 

But we must always remember that we have a confidant - someone who holds the future.