Looking beyond the circumstance.

I’ve always had problems praying for people.
Not that I don’t want to pray for them, but sometimes i feel its like a gamble.
A gamble per say, because I can commit the person and their plans/issues to God,
but its really up to God as to what happens. And when things seem to go the direct opposite
from my prayers, I find it hard to explain (both to the person I prayed for and to myself).
“WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY!!??”
“It sounds like a good plan to answer the prayer>.<?”
For a lack of a better phrase, it kinda made me “look bad”.
I get afraid that people would judge the particular circumstance of whether “did God show up”, as a conclusion
to whether “is God there”.
There are times I even wonder ” would things have been different if I didn’t pray about it?” (or at least not out loud
for people to hear).

It’s pretty frustrating to see and consider that people are “taking note” of the times God seems to be “MIA”.
Frustrating because I know that God isn’t MIA.
Frustrating because I know that things are always not how we see it. Our little perspectives are
far smaller than the bigger view and plan that God is executing.
Frustrating because I truly know and believe and have experienced these before, but I don’t know
how to express and convey this truth to people.
Frustrating because when I try to explain and speak of what I know to be true, it comes out sounding
all “dodgy” and “loop-holed” and “unconvincing”.
(people look at it like a debate, although i never meant for people to see it as such. I’ll lose hands down to debates anytime!)

A day or two later, I managed to locate my Bible (after all that Spring Cleaning), and started from where I left off.
The Book of Jeremiah.
I don’t know how coincident was coincidence, but the portion I started reading from seemed to be very relative
to what I was feeling the past few days.
The people were in a desperate situation. They were vulnerable to the coming attack by the Babylonians. They asked Jeremiah
to pray to God.

“Please hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this entire remnant.
For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left.
³ Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”
(Jer 42:2-3)

Jeremiah prayed and God warned them to not go to Egypt, and to stop their idolatry.
And the people said:

“You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’
(Jer 43:2)

Many of the Jews were worshipping foreign gods. One particular god mentioned was the “Queen of Heaven”.
Another name for her was “Ashtoreth”. Ashtoreth was known to be the goddess of Fertility/Sexuality etc.
Worship practices involved temple prostitution and sexual orgies. (you could guess from worshipping a goddess of “sexual love”).

Jeremiah continued conveying God’s message to the Jews, saying:

“Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!’ ⁵ But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. ”
(Jer 44:4-5)

And the people remained stubborn to their ways replying:

¹⁶ “We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD! ¹⁷ We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. ¹⁸But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.”
(Jer 44:16-18)

As I read this portion, I try to put myself in Jeremiah’s shoes.
“Aiyoo…Why did God make the situation seem like such? Isn’t it complicating matters?
Why can’t God do it the other way round – a more straightforward sign?”
How frustrating!!
On the other hand, the people ALSO asked to hear God, but rejected the Word immediately when it didn’t go along
with THEIR will. They accused Jeremiah of “lying”.
Blamed their situation to the fact that they stopped worshipping their foreign gods, when
the truth was that:

“Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed him or followed his law or his decrees or his stipulations, this disaster has come upon you, as you now see.”
(Jer 44: 23)

“Not once did the people connect their disasters with their sins! Nothing is more blinding than infidelity; and the type of theological acrobat that can suppose sin to be a better benefactor than the righteousness of God is here revealed to have been a very ancient specimen, the prototype of many such theological gymnasts in our own day.
Like the harlot in Hosea, Israel “Did shamefully, and said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink” (Hosea 2:5); and she did not know that it was her God who gave all those things she desired.”

(Coffman’s Commentary)

I could understand a LITTLE more of how frustrated Jeremiah might have felt. I’d yearn and get impatient, and I’d want to
tell people “Hallo! Wrong direction! Wrong focus!” ON THE OTHER HAND, I’d also get frustrated with God.
“God why can’t you just speak to these people? Why can’t you just DO something spectacular and show yourself?”
In my situation, “God, why can’t you just answer my prayer so people might see that I’m not reciting lines into thin air?
…into a figment of my imagination?”
However, just as I could relate to Jeremiah, I see myself LIKE the Jews and the harlot too.
I put myself in the shoes of the harlot in Hosea and I think “It IS logical to see things as it is and nothing more”.
I would fail to see that God is always in the picture. That the invisible God is at work. OBVIOUSLY, my naked eye
and the smallness of my imagination and perspectives cannot SEE that!
But do I RECOGNIZE that fact? That there is something beyond what I can see?
That there is something beyond what is happening/had happened?
That I am expecting God to answer my prayer because of MY will (like the Jews)?
That just as I fear people might deem God’s seeming “MIA-ness”, as God’s absence,
I myself might have been deeming that all along?

wow. didn’t know I went one round and ended up shooting my own ass.
MeiYin, look beyond the circumstance.
Look beyond your prayer.
Look beyond your will.
For God is far beyond all those, doing a work.
A work that though I can’t see, but I can trust:).
(and kid you not, my jaw kinda dropped when I saw this FB post that I felt it was amazingly unexpectedly timely. it spoke to me.)

Studying Hosea 1

Just something I was studying today…

Hosea 1

¹ The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash ^[a] king of Israel:

Hosea’s Wife and Children

² When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD.” ³ So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

⁴ Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. ⁵ In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.”

⁶ Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah, ^[b] for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. ⁷ Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the LORD their God.”

⁸ After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. ⁹ Then the LORD said, “Call him Lo-Ammi, ^[c] for you are not my people, and I am not your God.

¹⁰ “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ¹¹ The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.

Just in this chapter itself…there is sooo much information.

I see history, I see prophecy, I see hope.

I did a little research on this passage and I was blown away with all the juice I could get out of it!!

If u’re interested, go do your own research because its difficult for me to explain everything here.

I’ll just note down a few points that caught my attention:)…

Just a brief overview of the passage for better understanding…I quote from Coffman’s Commentary

This chapter details the prophecy of the doom of Israel as typically enacted in the tragic marital experience of the prophet himself. The infidelity (action of being unfaithful to the spouse)of Hosea’s wife, Gomer, portrayed the apostasy (abandonment of a religious belief) of Israel; and Hosea’s altruistic(selfless concern) and unfailing love depicted the unmerited love and favor of God which continued to be lavished upon faithless Israel. The names given through inspiration to the three children also foreshadowed (warning or indication of a future event)the ultimate rejection and destruction of the once “chosen people.” Thus, the word of the prophet took on new power and validity because, “It was a word spoken by one whose life authenticated the word.”…Regarding the reason why Gomer’s marriage to Hosea is regarded here as historical fact, rather than as an allegory or vision, see the introduction, above.

Points to note:

• The first son was Hosea’s as you can see the phrase “she conceived and bore him a son”
• The second and third child were probably not his as there were no further mentions of any belonging to Hosea (note sentence structure is different from the first)
• Who or What is Jazreel?

Quoted from the New John Gill Exposition…

…the blood of Joram the son of Ahab, and seventy other sons of his, and all his great men, kinsfolks and priests, shed by Jehu(10th king of Israel) in this place; and though this was done according to the will of God, and for which he received the kingdom, and it was continued in his family to the fourth generation; yet, in as much as this was not done by him from a pure and hearty zeal for the Lord and his worship, and with a sincere view to his glory, but in order to gain the kingdom, increase his power, and satiate his tyranny and lust; and because, though he destroyed one species of idolatry, the worship of Baal, yet he continued another, the worshipping of the calves at Dan and Bethel, and regarded not the law of the Lord, and so his successors after him; and were the means of causing many to sin, and so consequently of the ruin of many souls, whose blood would be required of them, which some take to be the meaning here; this is threatened; see (2 Kings 9:24,25) (10:1-7,11,16,28-31) . It may be observed, that God sometimes punishes the instruments he makes use of in doing his work; they either over doing it, exercising too much cruelty; and not doing it upon right principles, and with right views, as the kings of Assyria and Babylon, (Isaiah 10:5,7) (Zechariah 1:15) .

Quoting from Coffman’s…

This town gave its name to the eastern portion of the great plain between Galilee and Samaria, the western part being called Esdraelon. Megiddo, the ancient stronghold of the pre-Israelite Canaanites, from which is derived the name Har-Megiddo, or Armageddon, was also on this plain. The town of Jezreel was where Ahab and Jezebel established their summer residence, and there the shameful murder of Naboth occurred. The place was especially associated with the massacre of Ahab’s seventy sons by Jehu who replaced Ahab’s dynasty with his own. It was in Jezreel that the dogs licked the blood of Ahab and Jezebel’s body was dishonored and eaten by the dogs. What a horrible name to give an innocent little child! But God had a purpose in this. It was the signal that the atrocities of Jezreel were not forgotten and that the divine vengeance was soon to fall upon the whole nation.

The blood of Jezreel probably refers to all of the many vicious and godless crimes perpetrated there, but the particular application would seem to be to Jehu’s inhumane and ruthless murder of the house of Ahab, in which one of the kings of Judah, Ahaziah, was also slain. God, through one of his prophets, had commanded Jehu to destroy the house of Ahab; but the brutal and inhuman manner in which he did it showed that:

“He had been motivated by selfishness and an unholy aim and desire on his part. He had no concern for the will of God, but only for his own will.”^F20

Jehu promptly adopted the very sins for which God had decreed the destruction of the house of Ahab. “He took no heed to walk in the way of Jehovah, the God of Israel” (2 Kings 10:31).

• v7 Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the LORD their God.”

This remarkable prophecy was literally fulfilled when the army of Sennacherib came up against Jerusalem and king Hezekiah in the sixth year of that monarch’s reign, only to be destroyed in a single night by a miraculous deliverance brought about by the sudden death of 185,000 of Sennacherib’s troops, as recounted in 2 Kings 18–19. [Coffman's]

I did some research on this…here are some links you can check out with regards to King Sennacherib and the mysterious death of his troops (historically proven)…

http://www.bible-history.com/sketches/ancient/sennacherib-khorsabad.html

http://www.formerthings.com/sennacherib.htm

http://near-eastern-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/sennacheribs_siege_of_jerusalem_701_bc

http://www.bible-history.com/empires/prism.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sennacherib (yes i even wiki-ed it=X)

The brief summary of it was that King Sennacherib was feared by many. The Assyrian army was strong and were known for skinning people alive (their specialty) and then nailing them on walls as a warning to anyone who wanted to rebel. Miraculously, they tried to invade Jerusalem but failed to do so.185 000 troops were somehow killed overnight. Greek historians link it to some sort of rodent plague but its unverifiable… King Sennacherib fled back to Nineveh to be murdered by his two sons (as mentioned in the Bible and in historical references)

• v10 is mentioning/ prophesying the future Gentile generation that God will receive to call His own (i.e. christians today)

In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’

• The idea of Jesus Christ coming and re-uniting people is mentioned here…

The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.

Quoted from Wesley’s Explanatory Notes…

…this is spiritually to be understood of the whole Israel of God. One head - Zerubbabel, who was appointed by Cyrus, yet with full approbation of the people. And so Christ is appointed by the Father, head of his church, whom believers heartily accept. Come up – Literally out of Babylon, spiritually out of captivity to sin and to Satan. Great – Good, joyous and comfortable. Of Jezreel - Israel is here called Jezreel, the seed of God. This seed is now sown in the earth, and buried under the clods; but great shall be its day, when the harvest comes. Great was the day of the church, when there were daily added to it such as should be saved.

Read on chapter 2 to see of God’s amazing grace as He chooses to restore His people after punishment… (something we don’t deserve)

When I read it… its as if the chapter was re-telling the gospel all over again. Amazing*.*! The undeserving love we’re receiving from God is written all over His Word!! God is telling us something…can we see it?

Good teaching by Bad teachers

¹Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:

²“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

³So you must obey them and do everything they tell you.

But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

⁴They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders,

but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

[Matthew 23:1-4]

Many people in the world (even I myself, sometimes) feel that christians do not do what they preach.

The church constantly gets attacked and condemned for their mistakes, their sins, their hypocrisy.

On one hand, we talk about a Holy God. That we too are transformed and aim to lead our lives to become

more and more like Him. Our standards of living change from that of the world’s to that of God’s.

Our standards of what is good and what is evil. What is wise and what is foolish.

What is to be shunned and what is to be valued.

We preach love but maintain selfishness.

We preach forgiveness but harbor bitterness (we hope for misfortune to come to the person. who hope for karma)

We preach humility but live a life of pride.

We preach grace but yet condemn others who do not seem to fall into

our “perceived” standards (though we should look at ourselves and realise we

don’t fall into them either)

We say “do not judge” but yet in our hearts we are quick to judge…

And people say “christians don’t even do what they preach”.

They’re right to a certain extent (i don’t believe ALL christians are like that. Look out for

the correct ones and u’ll beg to differ=] ). Just like every other normal person (christian or non-christian)

we struggle to do what we preach because its easier to preach than to live out.

Christians definitely preach a whole lot more than unbelievers (tts why our mistakes are too, blown up, when

we fail). On the other hand, Jesus knew that there were SOME who preached (out loud for everyone to hear) but it was

done to receive praise from men (self-glorification and pride).

And Jesus said this…

“So you must obey them and do everything they tell you.

But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”

Meaning…

We must not condemn good teaching just because it is given by bad teachers.

Heed it. Do as they say.

BUT not as they do. Do not follow their examples.

I thank God though, that there ARE good teachers out there.

Yes=.=normally the bad ones probably stand out more (especially to the watching world)…

but there are Good teachers around. People who love God. People who DO what they PREACH.

People who lead by example.

Watch THEIR lives.

To the World: Don’t base God on the ones who give an inaccurate representation of who God is…

and therefore deem  ”this is christianity”. you’ve been watching the wrong source the whole time=]

To Believers: A challenge to dare to ask the world to “Come and Watch MY life”

As what Paul (this time, a good leader to follow by example) says…

¹⁶Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

¹⁷For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love,

who is faithful in the Lord.

He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus,

which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

[1 corinthians 4:16-17]

Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. ¹⁶They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. ¹⁷Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹Show me the coin used

for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, ²⁰and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”

²¹“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

²²When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

[Matthew 22:15-22]

Explanation from the Applied New Testament Commentary

13 Later the Jewish leaders sent some Pharisees and Herodians (the Herodians were

followers of King Herod of Galilee. They were also afraid of Jesus’ fame They feared

He would cause an uprising against Herod) to try and trap Jesus. Luke calls

them spies (Luke 20:20).According to Luke 20:20, these spies wanted to trap Jesus

into saying something against Caesar, the Roman Emperor, so that they might hand him over to

the power and authority of the governor – that is, the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.

In Jesus’ time, Israel was under the authority of the Roman Empire, and the chief ruler of

Israel was the Roman governor. The Jewish leaders hoped to accuse Jesus of being a

revolutionary, of trying to lead a revolt against Rome. If they could make this accusation

against Him, then the Romans would have Him arrested and executed. This was the way

the Jewish leaders hoped to get rid of Jesus.

14 Therefore, the Pharisees and Herodians, after flattering Jesus, asked

Him, “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” If Jesus answered that it was not

right, then they could accuse Him before the governor of disobeying Roman law.

However, if Jesus answered that it was right to pay taxes to Caesar, then the ordinary Jews

would be angry with Him and turn against Him. The reson the common people would be

angry with Him was that they hated the Romans, and they especially hated to pay taxes

to the Roman emperor. Thus, no matter what answer Jesus gave, He would bring

trouble upon Himself.

15-17 Then Jesus asked to see a denarius, a Roman coin with Caesar’s image on it.

Then He gave the perfect answer:”Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”

It is right for people to pay taxes. Although the Jews had lost their independence,

Caesar had given them many other benefits, such as roads, peace, security. The Jews

needed to pay for these benefits. There is usually no conflict in our duty to the government

and our duty to God. Only when the government forces us to disobey God’s law must we oppose

the government in that particular manner.

In Jesus’ time, anything that had a man’s stamp or inscription on it belonged to that man.

A Roman coin had Caesar’s inscription on it – Caesar’s image – and therefore, it

belonged to Caesar.

In the same way, it can be said that man has God’s stamp on him. Man is made in God’s

image (Genesis 1:27). Therefore, man belongs to God. Our taxes belong to Caesar, but we

ourselves belong to God. Therefore, we must give taxes to “Caesar”, and ourselves to God.

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.

For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent

I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher

of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in

the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was

pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ

crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those

whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom

of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of

God is stronger than man’s strength.

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards;

not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to

shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly

things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify

the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him

that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is our

righteousness. holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written:

“Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior

wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing

while I was with you except Jesus Christ

and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much

trembling. My message and my preaching were not wise with persuasive words,

but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest

on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

[1 Cor 1:18 - 2:5]

Checking my feelings today.

“In your anger, do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you’re still angry,

and do not give the devil a foothold.”

[Ephesians 4:26-27]

Righteous Anger Vs Sinful Anger.

The devil is always waiting for an opportunity to turn our righteous anger into sinful anger.

To use THAT anger for his purposes!!

There’s nothing wrong in being angry but we should always check ourselves whenever we are.

That when we choose to act…may it not be UPON the emotion but UPON rational and wise thinking

coupled with the love of God (that can still dwell in us while we are angry…its just that normally we’re blinded

by our current emotion we fail to see it). For the current anger is a feeling but the love of God is MORE than that.

This brings me to think that its not only anger that make us sin.

There are many things that are coupled with emotions/feelings that blind us from our goals.

Don’t mention the common “BAD” things like jealousy/lust.

Even emotions that SEEM good like love/ justice/ determination etc etc.

We can get blinded by our love for someone. We can get blinded when injustice come upon us

or on a loved one and we want to do something about it. We can get blinded when we’re too determined and motivated and driven

to work/ study that we forget the bigger picture that God has purposed for us.

We should really be careful to take control of our feelings and not let it take control of us.

On the other hand, I do believe that the Lord does use our feelings to compel us to do His work too.

I guess @ the end of the day, its to always keep ourselves in check with the Word of God.

Keep our actions in check. Keep our feelings in check. Keep our thoughts in check.

@ the end of the day, it is still God’s Word we have to go to.

we are REALLY lost without it.

I love rhymes. I love things that rhyme.

Let me end off with something that rhymes. HAHA!!

(its not totally related but its a good read and reminder anyway)

Feelings come and feelings go,

And feelings are deceiving;

My Warrant is the Word of God -

Naught else is worth believing.

Though all my heart should feel condemned

For want of some sweet token

There is One greater than my heart

Whose Word cannot be broken.

I’ll trust in God’s unchanging Word

Till soul and body sever,

For, though all things shall pass away,

HIS WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!

- Martin Luther-

Immeasurable Power

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

[Ephesians 3: 20-21]

Sometimes I fail to remember that God is BIGGER than I can imagine.

More POWERFUL than I can imagine.

I know He is big…but I don’t know HOW BIG!!

(i can only TRY to imagine to the best that I can but that shouldn’t be the LIMIT!)

The amazing thing about the above verse is that with this IMMEASURABLE power

that God has…He has chosen to use it to work WITHIN us.

Wow. That is grace. We don’t deserve it but we actually have

God’s POWER working in us.

Yes we are humans. We have limits.

But with God, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE.

For me personally, its a call to trust God.

Amen=].

Rejoice!

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

[phil 4:4]

There was once I told a friend who was down, to “Smile!”.

He mentioned that “there was nothing to smile about”…

For a christian, that is untrue!

We were called to “rejoice!”. This is not a suggestion…it is a command!

And God don’t give illogical commands!

If he commands us to “rejoice!” then surely there is SOMETHING to rejoice about.

And that SOMETHING is ALWAYS there!!

Verse 4 brings me back to an old song I used to sing in Sunday School…

(not that I really understood what I was singing then but yah i do now=P)

“Rejoice in the Lord, Always.

And again I say Rejoice.

Rejoice in the Lord, Always.

And again I say Rejoice.

Rejoice!

Rejoice!

And again I say Rejoice!

Rejoice!

Rejoice!

And again I say Rejoice!”

Simple song. Not even more than 10 words!!

Thats what we can smile about!!

Simply about God=]!

We can rejoice EVEN in our sadness, in our weakness, in our sufferings

because of who God is and what He has done!

Who God is?? Timeless.

Faithful,Loving,Gracious,Mighty,Sovereign,Holy…the list goes on and on!!

What He has done??

SALVATION. The top thing I’m always reminded about when called to rejoice.

That even in my problems/my struggles/my inadequateness…

I have a relationship with God=]. And that ALWAYS gives me something to smile about.

That God loved me so much to do something about it even if it cost Him His son.

And its not because I was worth it.

It was because of who He is.

His unfathomable Love. His abounding Grace.

Wooooow…*.* that I can enjoy His presence. That I can KNOW Him.

Wooooow….*.* May it Always and Forever BLOW my mind…!

Thank You Lord…!!