Sunday, April 22, 2007

The Love of God

"Blessed shall you be when you come in, & blessed shall you be when you go out." Deut 28:6 [NASB] This is not just a scripture promise, this is reality of life Jesus had given us through His sacrifice. When days I felt beaten, I felt the defeat, I will remind myself reading Deuteronomy 28, our blessing through the love of God, the perfect sacrifice of His only Son for all our sins...

My breakthrough of sales came to past on the 9th of April 2007, where Daddy in Heaven blessed me the sale of a high-end condominium worth S$1.7 million & the developer issued a professional fee of S$17,178. Praise Jesus as that was my birthday as well, what a much awaited blessing I pined since my migration of marketing to sales took place. I am just so blessed even little issue of my life such as I need to buy a new belt, I was blessed by a brother in Christ, the exact made I wanted & he had kept it for years never use much! You may say oh Godwyn, things are good for you thus you declare God is good. You are very wrong my beloved, as there are times I faced great multitude of adversity, I choose to count my blessings & I praise God when things are bad, I praise God when things are good...

Pastor Prince shared with us his revelation of the love of God a few weeks back & I felt so blessed under his teaching. There are 3 main elements in the love of God, being the state of manifestation, the perfection & measurement of His love for us. Rom 5:5-8 [NASB], "& hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has poured within our hearts through Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; through perhaps for the good man someone dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Let us not be self occupied for inside enjoyment, look outside to Christ & the cause is on that cross with the effect, the love of God...

1 John 4:17-18 [NASB] demonstrated the perfection of God's love, "By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is so also are we in This World. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, & the one who fears is not perfected in love." God looks at Jesus not us for judgment, don't look at our circumstances beloved but trust in Christ who is our new identity. Is Christ rich? So are we in this World! Is Christ Healthy? So are we in this World! In the midst of storm, let us look at Jesus as He is above the storm Amen?! Step out of self occupation & we can step out of our pain...

The measurement of God's love? "I in them & you in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the World may know You send Me, & loved them, even as You have loved Me." John 17::23 [NASB]. "God does not see the same way people see. People look at the outside of a person, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Sam 16:17 [NCV] We are weary of society's surface-level system, of being graded according to the inches of our waist, the square footage of our house, the color of our skin, the make of our car, the label of our clothes, the size of our office, the presence of diplomas, the absence of pimples. Don't we weary of such games?

Hard work ignored. Devotion unrewarded. The boss chooses cleavage over character. The teacher picks pet students instead of prepared ones. Parents show of their favorite sons & leave their runts out in the field. Oh, the Goliath of exclusion. Are you sick of Him? Then it's time to quit staring at him. Who cares what he, or they think? What matters is what your Maker thinks. God always see what no one else saw: a God-seeking heart! Our Father knows our heart, & because He does, He has a place reserved just for you...

Inspired By:

Pastor Prince & Max Lucado

Monday, April 02, 2007

David Vs The Giant

The migration of my work from marketing real estate developments to sales & marketing took longer than I had planned for. Many asked me why I choose to do so as I am quite comfortable managing my team for project launches. Flexible working hours are good, as my younger sister requires medical consultation from time to time. She was to be admitted to hospital on the 30th of March for further medical examination, she refused, as she had an important interview for her gifted program...

Finally she managed to 'bargain' for a day care medical examination with consent of my mum. It is almost 2 years, yet there are no full diagnosis regarding her medical issue. Medical specialists were consulted from top of her head to the bottom of her toe, frustrating isn't it? I am not against doctors, in fact, I learn to pray to our Daddy in Heaven to anoint the doctor with wisdom for a clear diagnosis before we visit the medical consultants. This is indeed a year of new beginning with me especially with the change of career path & I can do all things in Christ, believing Him for His favors & blessings...

I felt like David, facing the Giant, the Goliath! Our Goliath doesn't carry sword of shield; he brandishes blades of unemployment, abandonment, sexual abuse, or depression. Our giant doesn't pace up & down the hills of Elah; he prances through our office, our bedroom, our classroom. He brings bills you can't pay, grades you can't make, people you can't please, whiskey you can't resist, pornography we can't refuse, a career we can't escape, a past we can't shake & a future we can't face...

David said to the philistine, "You come to me with a sword, as spear, & a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts. The God of armies of Israel, whom you have taunted." 1 Sam 17:45 [NASB] "...& that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver us by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord's & He will give you into our hand." 1 Sam 17:47 [NASB] Notice in the scripture, David said that he come against the enemy in the name of the Lord. He further to declare, "For the battle is the Lord's...

What a spirit of David we should adore! He came against them in the name of the Lord & boldly, he declared the battle is the Lord's. Don't let our circumstances, people, or emotion to dictate us! You might say that David knew how to get a head of his giant. When was the last time you did the same? How long since we ran toward our challenge? We tend to retreat, duck behind a desk or work or crawl into a nightclub of distraction or a bed of forbidden love. For a moment, a day, we feel safe, insulated, anesthetized, but the work runs out, the liquor wears off, or the lover leaves, & we hear Goliath again...

Try a new track! Rush to our giant with a God-saturated soul. Giant of divorce, you aren't entering my home! Gaint of depression? It may take a lifetime, but you won't conquer me. Giant of alcohol, bigotry, child abuse, insecurity...you're going down. How long since you loaded your sling & took a swing at our giant? Giants. We must face them. Yet we need not face them alone. Focus first, & most on God.

Do we ponder God's grace four times as we ponder our guilt? Is our list of blessing four times as thick as our mental file or dread? Are we four times as likely to describe the strength of God as we are the demands of our day? Focus on giants - We stumble. Focus on God - our giants tumble. Lift your eyes, giants-slayer. The God who made a miracle out of David stands ready to make one out of you...

Inspired by:

Max Lucado