The Lord Will Bless

"The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace." - Psalm 29:11

Wow this is an amazing promise from the word of truth, which is 100% reliable. The Lord will give strength to His people to His people. So who are His people? You are His people, when you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart, you accept the entry into the kingdom of God. At the same time, you also accept the power of Jesus into your life. This power includes the strength:

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:13

and blessings:

"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:19

How good is that? We will never be able to gain entry into God's kingdom on our own. No matter how good of a person we are, it is never good enough. But by the grace of God, He sent His Son as a living sacrifice to atone for all our sins and break the bondage of sin in our lives.

Thank you Jesus for all that you have sacrificed - your life, your everything. Just so that you could save a sinner like me. I'm sorry Lord for the sins that I have committed, help me to learn from my mistakes. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Recharge

How does a battery work? Batteries don't last forever on a single charge. A battery must be charged and when the power is used up it must be recharged again. Likewise we cannot survive without recharging ourselves. How do we recharge? Pray and wait upon the Lord.

Yesterday I decided to go around my neighbourhood (door knocking) to sell the fundraising chocolates. I prayed that I would sell all the chocolates. Yesterday I took one box with me, after going around one block I sold over half of what I had in the box. Praise God. The best part was not that I was able to sell the chocolates, but I got to invite 2 people to come to Church/Youthopea.

Also I have recorded yet another personal best for the 5km run - 26 min 12 secs. However I am falling behind in reaching my goal of 12 runs in a month. Yesterday I didn't think I could run a PB, because there was just problems popping up along the way. I got a slight stitch around the halfway mark. At 500m to go my laces got undone and I did get distracted a little. God reminded me though that although problems come up as we walk with God, don't get distracted by them. Focus not on your problems, but on the task at hand and the goal. So that's what I did, I just focused on my run and praise God I recorded the PB.

"Save Your people, And bless Your inheritance; Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever." - Psalm 28:9

I pray that I will be able to go to more houses and to reach out to everyone around my neighbourhood. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Sleep Deprived

For the past week or so, I've only been getting about 5 hours of sleep each night. For some this might be heaps, but for me this is nowhere near enough. I normally need at least 7 hours of sleep. Although I'm so tired right now, by coming to God, He gives rest and strengthens me.

Coffee doesn't work on me. Last night I had the strongest coffee I had ever. It was a jelly which was basically straight coffee. I ate about half a cup of that, even after that I was still able to fall asleep so easily. Sometimes hot coffee even makes me even more sleepy.

Praise God that He never fails to keep His promise. They say coffee theoretically keeps you awake, but fact is always changing. However with God, He is truth, truth that is everlasting.

"Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28

Don't Stress

Why do you stress? Is it because you have a really hard exam coming up? Or maybe you've been put under alot of pressure at work. Our capabilities are limited, there's not much we can do about that ourselves. However God did not expect us to live on our own.

Psalm 23 talks about God being the shepherd. It highlights who God is and who we are in God. Only through God can we have the provision, peace and pardon. Then in verse 5 in talks about God as a comforter, He wants to be there with you, in times of good as well as bad. God prepares the way for you, we may be able to plan our way, but ultimately it is God who needs to prepare the way for us. Finally, the Lord provides us with the life that we were created for.

Whatever it is, don't stress, you're not alone. Allow God to be the shepherd in your life.

A Common Goal

I have been using the Nike+iPod kit for a couple of weeks now and I thoroughly enjoy it. Just recently I found out that Nike actually has special events where people run as a group to reach the required goal. Through these things Nike has donated to charity (eg. 1 mile = $1). I think this is just a great idea. Imagine people from all over the world, reaching for a common goal. That is what we are called to do, we cannot do things on our own.

On Sunday our pastor gave the analogy of a snowflake. A single snowflake is one of nature's most fragile thing. Yet when combined together they can be one of the most destructive elements. We were not made to do things on our own, when God made Adam he said "it is not good for man to be alone". I am just thankful that I have such an encouraging church, who is there to help and support me in whatever the situation.

Empowered

The last couple of days I have been feeling very tired. I'm not sure whether it's a lack of sleep or whether I'm doing too much. It's easy when we do feel tired to ask God for strength and to rely on Him. But many times when we should have asked for His strength, but we fail to. We think we can live life on our own strength, however we can only live life to the full with the strength of God.

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." - Acts 1:8

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:13

We CAN do ALL things, but only through CHRIST who strengthens us. Life and power comes from the Lord. We do not generate our own power, but it is received from the Lord. The very breath that we breathe is borrowed from God, He could easily take it away in an instant.

Lord thank you that you have empowered us to live life to the full. Continue to strengthen me Lord so that I may a witness to you, everywhere I go. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Trust in What?

Who or what do we rely on to give us strength each day? Yesterday I was really touched to put my full trust in the Lord. The story is that I had been planning to go for my drivers license test (Driver Qualification Test) to get my full license. Week after week I would put it off, until on Thursday I remembered that my license actually expires in November. It turns out that it actually expired on the 12th of November which was just last Sunday.

My first reaction was of panic, I thought I would have to sit through the Provisional license test again! Thank God that I didn't and so the next day I went to the RTA first thing in the morning to do the test. I was thinking, if I didn't pass the test I would just renew my license, no big deal. In my mind I didn't want to renew my license, I believed God would help me through it.

I had not done any study except flipping through the notes because it was too boring to read. I can definitely say I trusted in the Lord with all my heart. I believe if it wasn't for Him I would not have passed the exam. The most amazing thing, was that I got a PERFECT score (100%), the lady there was surprised somewhat, because not many people get 100%.

Praise God, He is awesome!

"Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God." - Psalm 20:7

New Look

Well after almost 2 years since I've started using blogger, I've finally changed the look of my blog. This was due to the fact that I have now migrated over to the new Blogger beta and so I thought I'd try out the new layout customization. I think it doesn't look too bad at all, and the interface was not too bad. Although there were a few quirks, but having a bad line on my end didn't help either.

I haven't been blogging as much, sometimes the reason could be I just decided to read the word and worship God. Other times I've just gotten up late and so I have to rush to get to work on time. Often times it can be like that especially for working people, either we are just too busy and can't afford to spend time with God or we are so busy that we get tired and just don't feel like spending time with God.

You might think that it's a waste of time, but the truth is, you can't afford NOT to spend time with God. To be able to live a righteous life, our relationship with God must grow. The only way a relationship can grow is if you spend time with the other person. By growing in the Lord our spiritual lives are also strengthened. By being strong spiritually, it will translate to our physical lives.

Lord I pray that I would not fail to always remember to put you first, no matter how busy I am. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Faith To Live

What is faith? I watched an episode of House MD where they treated a "faith healer" who is used by God to heal the sick. Of course House does not believe in such things and calls him a lunatic. One of the things he says: "faith is ignorance". Well how would you live without faith? we need to have faith in different aspects of our lives. We need to have faith that the next time we take a breath there will be oxygen, we need faith that when we sit on a chair it will hold us up, we need faith that when we cross a bridge it won't crumble. It is impossible to live life without faith.

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." - 1 Corinthians 1:18

For people who have not received Jesus, the word of God is foolishness. It is only through the holy spirit can their eyes be opened to the truth. However for us who have been saved it it the power of God. We have that power, which is why we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Not by our own might, but by the power of God.

When we put our faith in God, we are not relying on what we can do, we like to be in control, but we need to let go and let God do His work in our lives. When we go to the beach, it's comfortable to just walk along the shore because we have full control, but when we go further into the water until we are no longer touching the sand, we have much less control and the waves begin to dictate where we go.

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." - Hebrews 11:6

Allow God to take the reins of your life. See what He sees, not what you see.

Lord take my life and use it for your glory, thank you God that you have an awesome plan for my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

One Hope, One Way

You think that life is hopeless.
You think that your toils are useless.
There is a hope, there is a way.
God gave His Son that we may,
Receive salvation and His glorious riches.
His name is none other than Jesus.
- Written by: Victor (me)

Praise God! I hope these words have blessed you.

Hope Mission Centre has started a building project and it would be awesome if people could contribute by donating to the fund. To find out more about this project, please visit http://www.hopemissioncentre.com

Come Back

When we go through tough times and it seems like God is not there, it can be difficult. You start to wonder, where are you God? I don't feel you anymore...why is this happening?

But what really is happening is that you are the one that has left God, sometimes out of our own fleshly desires we leave God to satisfy our own cravings. Then when we hit problems, we ask why? If you want a reason, it's simply because you have decided to leave God.

God will never leave us nor forsake us, He would never let the devil snatch us from His hands, but we have a choice to move away from Him. Don't blame God when we face the consequences of our own actions. The only way we can be forgiven and restored is if we come back to Him.

Lord thank you for your unfailing love for us, that no matter how much we disobey you, no matter how much we have hurt you, yet you are willing to take us back with open arms. Forgive me Lord for the times that I have failed you, I pray that you would help me to be strengthened and not make the same mistakes again. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Don't Be A Wuss

What do we do when problems and trials come our way? Do we run away or do we stand up and face them? By ourselves we are not very strong, but if we have God on our side who can be against us?

"In the LORD I put my trust; How can you say to my soul, "Flee as a bird to your mountain"?" - Psalm 11:1

So if we have the Lord on our side, if we put our trust in the Lord, then why do we still run away from our problems? This doesn't mean putting your trust in the Lord. When we trust in the Lord, we trust that our God is big enough to take us through the problems, to help us to overcome any obstacle.

God wants to be involved in your life, whether it be your school, work or anything. God is not someone that you just meet once a week. Whatever problems at work, school, home or anything else, you can speak to God about them. God has helped me numerous times to solve certain problems I had at work, also He's helped me at Uni, especially with my thesis.

Lord thank you that you are always there for us, I pray Lord that I would put my trust more and more in You rather than my own abilities. Make me a man and not a wuss, who runs away at the sight of a problem. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Refuge

"The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble." - Psalm 9:9

God is a just God, He doesn't believe in poverty, discrimination or anything like that. Which is why, whenever we are oppressed or we are facing a problem. The Lord is there with open arms to take care of us. We can see there are so many problems and so many people in this world facing oppression. Not only in the physical, but in the spiritual. What are we doing about it?

Lord help me to help those that need you. Use me to feed the hungry, heal the sick and give to the needy. In physical or spiritual, bless me so that I can bless others. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Miniscule

If you think about it, the universe is so big, we haven't even seen 1% of it. So in the grand scheme of things, we are just a microscopic speck. Imagine you had something like an iPod. On the iPod there's the metal case, the screen, the circuit boards. Then if you go even deeper, you'll find different types of bacteria on it and specks of dust. That's similar to how we are compared to the universe.

The awesome thing is: God still cares for you, no matter how insignificant you are, God actually made you to be just a little below the angels.

"For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor." - Psalm 8:5

It's amazing to think that God, the almighty, would care for people like us, and go to all the trouble to save us, so that we can be with Him.

Thank you God!

Garage Sale

Today and in the coming weeks, Hope Church will be having a garage sale. In the bible, people gave up everything to be given to those in need.

"Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need." - Acts 4:34-35

This is essentially similar to what we are doing. The church members have donated their possessions so that they can be sold and having the proceeds go to the church. The main focus will be the Hope Church Building. The building alone costs $610,000, plus more for the renovations that we need to do.

We can apply this same principle in our lives, we are selfish people, so it is hard most times to share the things that we have. However when we do share, you will certainly not lack. To us this doesn't make sense, because God says, give and you will have more. Sounds like a contradiction, but that's because we've been brought up to think that giving means we have less.

Lord thank you for all the people who have shared with me, I pray that you bless them abundantly and overflowing that they won't be able to contain it. I pray that the garage sale will be a success and that you will have your way. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Life Involves Risks

Living life to the full involves taking risks, imagine if we never took any risks and each step we took was pre-meditated. It would be very boring, because you could always tell what was going to happen next. Sometimes to make it big, we need to take risks, eg. the companies and businessmen they invest into "things" in the hope that the "thing" will do well and they'll get their returns. However there is always the risk that the "thing" will not do so well and they have just lost millions of dollars that they've invested.

Compare that to someone who only invests a few thousand dollars, because they know that they will gain for sure, even though it's only a little. The sowing and reaping principle can be applied here. The more you sow, the more you reap. I think one of the biggest factors for small businesses to thrive, is having people to invest in it. Not just a few thousand, but millions, basically giving their all. In the end there will be two scenarios, either they will go bankrupt or they will be successful. The result depends on who we invest in.

Jesus wants us to give our all to Him, as He has done for us. Jesus died for us, risking the fact that people would not accept Him. We have the responsibility to accept Him and although it may be a risk to us, because of our background, families and friends. There is no other purpose in life.