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Thursday, February 11, 2010
Before i depict the scenario, i'll like to clear the common fallacy- Ones wrongdoings do not reflect the measure of evil in his/her heart.There are other reasons for misbehaviour, such as peer pressure, fear of losing one's pride, which usually leads to insecurity, which usually leads to succumbing to bad influences, etc. i.e. a child brought up by his/her family in a good environment changes his behaviour and soon, character in school because he/she chooses to follow the bad influence for fear of being rejected as a friend or getting bullied. In his/her mind, he/she decided between the two: One either follows to get acceptance, or stands firm in the right ways and gets bullied. Yet who can blame this child for following his/her survival instincts? I can only lament that he/she did not know God, who is faithful to deliver us from trouble, and resorted to 'blending in' to protect him/herself.
A test of love, gratitude, and selflessness; a test to see one's heart.
ok to the scenario: You were out one day and your 2 children, a daughter and a son were alone at home. 2 kidnappers armed with knifes attempted to kidnap them. There were 2 other foreign men at the scene, who saw the assault and rushed to stop them. A fight broke out. The foreign men eventually managed to fight off the kidnappers, who fled. However, 1 of the men who came to the rescue, the only son of the other, was stabbed in the fight, and according to your daughter, he died on the spot. The father was extremely grieved for his son, who came from Nepal, Gokyo; one of the Himalayan peaks,to study in your country. The father forgave the kidnappers because they did not know what they were doing. He would bury his son in your country because the bright child had always wanted to migrate and live here. Moreover, it was not important to give his son a proper 'farewell' ceremony for in their culture, 'the spirit still lives though the body passes away'. The father told your children that you could find him at where his hometown was at Gokyo if you wanted to, passed them his address on a piece of paper and said 'Come within 30 days time, if not, do not come at all.' Still weeping bitterly, he left with his son's body. Would you go to Gokyo to find him, thank him and comfort him? You have a very busy schedule at work; a project you have to finish and a deal which you have to secure within the next month. If you do not finish these tasks, you'll lose your job. The same question comes back to your mind: Would you go to Gokyo to find him, thank him and comfort him?
Suppose you chose to visit him at Gokyo and found his hometown, but his neighbours said that he had left for Switzerland to live with his brother. Upon further explanation, you found out that he had been suffering from lung cancer and only has less than a month left to live. He wished to spend his last days with his brother, whose family migrated to Switzerland many years ago, and also needed emotional support. They gave you the town name and location, and informed you that within lives a small community of 5000. Would you still resolve to look for him?
A difficult decision for many, but think: If a man can lose his only son who is most precious to him, so that you will not lose your two children who are both most precious to you, then why is it so difficult for us to just step out of our 'comfort zone' and lose our job? How hard has our heart become? Even for those of us who build a resolve in our minds and now say that we will look for that man to express gratiude and show comfort, most of us do not have the strength, resolve and HEART to take action and stand firm in the midst of failures and disappointment. When such a situation arises, the magnitude of the 'sacrifices' we have to make and the uncertainty of success will daunt us so much we will resolve instead to make convincing excuses to back out. So in future, let us always treat others as we would ourselves in everything we do. Know that every human being is as Real a person as us, with emotions, hopes and fears as big as ours. They might be insignificant to us, for we are the centre of our universe, but similarly, they are the centre of theirs. From the 3rd person point of view, everyone is equal, only our circumstances are different. If we are in the shoes of a victim of the Haiti earthquake, we will hope that those living in peace would have a softer heart, and support rescue efforts. If the Haiti earthquake victim was born in a developed nation, he/she might probably have little heart for disaster-stricken victims half a world away either. So lets us ALWAYS remember that we sometimes forget these things amidst the hustle and bustle of life. Search our own hearts once in a while, and see if we still remember how to love.
_______________________________________________________________________________
(To those who are not open to Christianity, you can stop reading here. Thanks for your time! =))
For those who want to find out more on Christianity, here's some links:
This is a complete and very good multi-media explanation on the central belief in Christianity you can watch.
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=57b89216572c373fc2d1
Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry has the answers to all kinds of questions you might ask. Once you learn how to get around this site you'll love it!
http://www.carm.org
A Parallel Story in Reality
True enough, as we can see in reality, our hearts are hard. We hear of this guy named Jesus, who lived a sinless life and died for us 2000 years ago so that all who believed in Him would be forgiven of their sins, saved, and given eternal life. Some might ask, 'Isn't "just believing" not enough? How can believing in Jesus deem me righteous enough to live forever?' But in 'believing' is where the real test lies; the test to see one's heart, the test that God Himself has set in place to see if we who were created to love, still love. as in the example of the father and son who fought off the kidnappers, if we love the father, are grateful for his son's sacrifice, and do not put our selfish gains in front of their selfless losses, then we will believe that the accounts of our children are true. 'Believing' has been undermined alot since Jesus' time. Look at those in the Bible who believed in Jesus easily. It might seem like nothing much, but they were rewarded and honored greatly for their faith, because 'believing' showed that they loved and appreciated(were grateful to) Jesus, and (were selfless)put Him first!
Eg. John 1:50 Jesus said[to Nathanael], "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that."
John 4:39-41 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.
God knows us best because He created us; He knows how things work deep in our hearts. He will not let us be saved by just 'believing' if He saw that it was unfair. In relation to the initial scenario given, Christians are like the children who gave the account of the 2 selfless men coming to their rescue. The piece of paper with the address of the man's hometown on Gokyo is like the Bible, the reliable Word God has given us to lead us to believe in Him. Can we say that the children are lying? Or can we say that they forged the handwriting? Yes, if we take an extreme point of view. (Er, i tell myself that probably some adolescent came and tricked my children to play this prank on me. Simple. I dont have to take the trouble to fly to Nepal or climb any mountain to see if its true anymore! Well done, now time to carry on with my life, finish the project, secure the deal and get a raise!) It is very very easy to be deceived in our minds and to take the easy way out. We all saw how easy it was and know how comfortable it feels when all the responsibility is washed off our hands. The devil will use all ways and means to shift our focus off God, and one of his sure-strike ways to success is to distract us with the hustle and bustle of life; other priorities like school workload and corporate responsibilities. Another would be to use science and logic to wipe out and sense of belief, that is, love, gratitude and selflessness left in us. We cannot subscribe to these distractions so easily knowing that there are others out there who need us! They need LOVE.
This world needs God because God is Love
God is a God of the heart, the God of all eternity and all creation, not a God of science and modern-day human logic. Look at the big picture and see that our generation is like a vapour in the wind in the course of human history. There are some things we have been doing since the first man, and are still doing today. These, humans were created to do: love, worship God and fellowship in community. Yet, in this generation, we suffer tremendously because much of what we do is the opposite. We experience heartbreaks, show off, are tired of living and live for ourselves. These happen because we have strayed away from God. God is Love.
1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
The world is so loveless today. People lament that 'Life Sucks' when life is the greatest gift of all. This is because we are away from God, the source of all life and love. Can a plant stay in darkness and become more and more alive each day? Similarly, can we not know God, not live with Him and become more and more alive each day? We were created to live with Him just as a fish is created to live in water. Christians stand up in the face of temptation, persecution and suffering becauswe we know and love God, and His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. (2 Cor 12:9) Even when we die, we die to live with God forever. =)
To my brothers and sisters: It is a command to glorify God and to testify to what we have seen and heard (Matt 28:18-20, Luke 24:47-48, Mark 16:15), as it is one not to murder. (Exo 20:13) So let us not live for ourselves anymore but live for our Loving GOD who saved us from our wretchedness, and share the Good News with the world!!
+++5:01 PM+++
Jesus is Love
Before i depict the scenario, i'll like to clear the common fallacy- Ones wrongdoings do not reflect the measure of evil in his/her heart.There are other reasons for misbehaviour, such as peer pressure, fear of losing one's pride, which usually leads to insecurity, which usually leads to succumbing to bad influences, etc. i.e. a child brought up by his/her family in a good environment changes his behaviour and soon, character in school because he/she chooses to follow the bad influence for fear of being rejected as a friend or getting bullied. In his/her mind, he/she decided between the two: One either follows to get acceptance, or stands firm in the right ways and gets bullied. Yet who can blame this child for following his/her survival instincts? I can only lament that he/she did not know God, who is faithful to deliver us from trouble, and resorted to 'blending in' to protect him/herself.
A test of love, gratitude, and selflessness; a test to see one's heart.
ok to the scenario: You were out one day and your 2 children, a daughter and a son were alone at home. 2 kidnappers armed with knifes attempted to kidnap them. There were 2 other foreign men at the scene, who saw the assault and rushed to stop them. A fight broke out. The foreign men eventually managed to fight off the kidnappers, who fled. However, 1 of the men who came to the rescue, the only son of the other, was stabbed in the fight, and according to your daughter, he died on the spot. The father was extremely grieved for his son, who came from Nepal, Gokyo; one of the Himalayan peaks,to study in your country. The father forgave the kidnappers because they did not know what they were doing. He would bury his son in your country because the bright child had always wanted to migrate and live here. Moreover, it was not important to give his son a proper 'farewell' ceremony for in their culture, 'the spirit still lives though the body passes away'. The father told your children that you could find him at where his hometown was at Gokyo if you wanted to, passed them his address on a piece of paper and said 'Come within 30 days time, if not, do not come at all.' Still weeping bitterly, he left with his son's body. Would you go to Gokyo to find him, thank him and comfort him? You have a very busy schedule at work; a project you have to finish and a deal which you have to secure within the next month. If you do not finish these tasks, you'll lose your job. The same question comes back to your mind: Would you go to Gokyo to find him, thank him and comfort him?
Suppose you chose to visit him at Gokyo and found his hometown, but his neighbours said that he had left for Switzerland to live with his brother. Upon further explanation, you found out that he had been suffering from lung cancer and only has less than a month left to live. He wished to spend his last days with his brother, whose family migrated to Switzerland many years ago, and also needed emotional support. They gave you the town name and location, and informed you that within lives a small community of 5000. Would you still resolve to look for him?
A difficult decision for many, but think: If a man can lose his only son who is most precious to him, so that you will not lose your two children who are both most precious to you, then why is it so difficult for us to just step out of our 'comfort zone' and lose our job? How hard has our heart become? Even for those of us who build a resolve in our minds and now say that we will look for that man to express gratiude and show comfort, most of us do not have the strength, resolve and HEART to take action and stand firm in the midst of failures and disappointment. When such a situation arises, the magnitude of the 'sacrifices' we have to make and the uncertainty of success will daunt us so much we will resolve instead to make convincing excuses to back out. So in future, let us always treat others as we would ourselves in everything we do. Know that every human being is as Real a person as us, with emotions, hopes and fears as big as ours. They might be insignificant to us, for we are the centre of our universe, but similarly, they are the centre of theirs. From the 3rd person point of view, everyone is equal, only our circumstances are different. If we are in the shoes of a victim of the Haiti earthquake, we will hope that those living in peace would have a softer heart, and support rescue efforts. If the Haiti earthquake victim was born in a developed nation, he/she might probably have little heart for disaster-stricken victims half a world away either. So lets us ALWAYS remember that we sometimes forget these things amidst the hustle and bustle of life. Search our own hearts once in a while, and see if we still remember how to love.
_______________________________________________________________________________
(To those who are not open to Christianity, you can stop reading here. Thanks for your time! =))
For those who want to find out more on Christianity, here's some links:
This is a complete and very good multi-media explanation on the central belief in Christianity you can watch.
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=57b89216572c373fc2d1
Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry has the answers to all kinds of questions you might ask. Once you learn how to get around this site you'll love it!
http://www.carm.org
A Parallel Story in Reality
True enough, as we can see in reality, our hearts are hard. We hear of this guy named Jesus, who lived a sinless life and died for us 2000 years ago so that all who believed in Him would be forgiven of their sins, saved, and given eternal life. Some might ask, 'Isn't "just believing" not enough? How can believing in Jesus deem me righteous enough to live forever?' But in 'believing' is where the real test lies; the test to see one's heart, the test that God Himself has set in place to see if we who were created to love, still love. as in the example of the father and son who fought off the kidnappers, if we love the father, are grateful for his son's sacrifice, and do not put our selfish gains in front of their selfless losses, then we will believe that the accounts of our children are true. 'Believing' has been undermined alot since Jesus' time. Look at those in the Bible who believed in Jesus easily. It might seem like nothing much, but they were rewarded and honored greatly for their faith, because 'believing' showed that they loved and appreciated(were grateful to) Jesus, and (were selfless)put Him first!
Eg. John 1:50 Jesus said[to Nathanael], "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that."
John 4:39-41 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.
God knows us best because He created us; He knows how things work deep in our hearts. He will not let us be saved by just 'believing' if He saw that it was unfair. In relation to the initial scenario given, Christians are like the children who gave the account of the 2 selfless men coming to their rescue. The piece of paper with the address of the man's hometown on Gokyo is like the Bible, the reliable Word God has given us to lead us to believe in Him. Can we say that the children are lying? Or can we say that they forged the handwriting? Yes, if we take an extreme point of view. (Er, i tell myself that probably some adolescent came and tricked my children to play this prank on me. Simple. I dont have to take the trouble to fly to Nepal or climb any mountain to see if its true anymore! Well done, now time to carry on with my life, finish the project, secure the deal and get a raise!) It is very very easy to be deceived in our minds and to take the easy way out. We all saw how easy it was and know how comfortable it feels when all the responsibility is washed off our hands. The devil will use all ways and means to shift our focus off God, and one of his sure-strike ways to success is to distract us with the hustle and bustle of life; other priorities like school workload and corporate responsibilities. Another would be to use science and logic to wipe out and sense of belief, that is, love, gratitude and selflessness left in us. We cannot subscribe to these distractions so easily knowing that there are others out there who need us! They need LOVE.
This world needs God because God is Love
God is a God of the heart, the God of all eternity and all creation, not a God of science and modern-day human logic. Look at the big picture and see that our generation is like a vapour in the wind in the course of human history. There are some things we have been doing since the first man, and are still doing today. These, humans were created to do: love, worship God and fellowship in community. Yet, in this generation, we suffer tremendously because much of what we do is the opposite. We experience heartbreaks, show off, are tired of living and live for ourselves. These happen because we have strayed away from God. God is Love.
1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
The world is so loveless today. People lament that 'Life Sucks' when life is the greatest gift of all. This is because we are away from God, the source of all life and love. Can a plant stay in darkness and become more and more alive each day? Similarly, can we not know God, not live with Him and become more and more alive each day? We were created to live with Him just as a fish is created to live in water. Christians stand up in the face of temptation, persecution and suffering becauswe we know and love God, and His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. (2 Cor 12:9) Even when we die, we die to live with God forever. =)
To my brothers and sisters: It is a command to glorify God and to testify to what we have seen and heard (Matt 28:18-20, Luke 24:47-48, Mark 16:15), as it is one not to murder. (Exo 20:13) So let us not live for ourselves anymore but live for our Loving GOD who saved us from our wretchedness, and share the Good News with the world!!
Jesus is Love