Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Amazing Love

10:21 AM 1 Comments
I will shout to the world
and proclaim my love for You
I will not care of how loud
and how cliche I sound too

I love You
My heart is yearning to be with You
To praise and magnify Your name
To worship and adore what You do

Jesus, let Your love shine on me
Make me a reflection of Your love
With You I will soar above
My spirit is with You, I am free

I love You Jesus!
Thank You for the cross

and this I will sing to praise
Your amazing love for me...



Amazing Love

I’m forgiven, because you were forsaken
I’m accepted, you were condemned
I’m alive and well, you’re spirit is within me
Because you died and rose again

Amazing love, how can it be
that you My king would die for me
Amazing love, I know it’s true
It’s my joy to honor you
In all i do i honor you

Saturday, March 6, 2010

I Have the Right Cross

5:43 PM 4 Comments
Today's Our Daily Bread mentioned the song It Is Well With My Soul by Horatio Spafford. I googled about it and found out that Spafford had written the song after a several traumatic events in his life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871, shortly followed by the great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer) Then in 1873, he planned to travel to Europe with his family but sent them ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sailing ship and all four of Spafford's daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone." Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write the song as his ship passed near where his daughters had died. Wikipedia.

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Horatio Spafford




This reminds me of a sermon that I heard when I was still really really young and my faith was still triple times fold of that really in my previous young. It's about a man who had the chance to come face to face with Jesus.

The man was carrying a cross and thought that he wants to change it because it's heavy and he can't carry it well. He went to Jesus and asked him for it be changed.

Jesus, then agreed and started to show and let him try one cross after the other. The man tried to carry and walk with the cross that Jesus had given him but after a few steps, he would complain and ask Jesus to change it again.

"It's too heavy." ""It's uneven." "It feels uncomfortable." "It feels nothing, I feel useless." "It's so light, I feel funny carrying it." Then, after a several tries he finally found the perfect cross.

"Jesus, I'll take this. It's not too heavy, not too light. It fits perfectly on my shoulders."
"Really? Well, that was your original cross.", He answered.

***
I know I was still young when I heard that sermon but it remained in my memory and heart because i like it. It was a simple story but it reminds me that Jesus knows what I want. Jesus knows what cross fits me.

When I heard that story I didn't paid much attention to the "it's so light." comment of the man. Just at this very moment I wondered, why would somebody return a light cross? I think we all want to have our cross to be light.

I reflected about that part as I was recalling the story.

I think, we can compare the "carrying of the cross" to weight lifting so we can tone our muscles. Carrying of the cross is the exercise for our soul. We need it to make our soul firm and healthy. Just like exercise that can help us boost our immune system and can make us feel good, the cross that we carry can also boost our faith, strengthen our trust and detoxify our hearts. A relatively light cross can maybe produce a result but it takes time and a too heavy cross can strain us and can cause us to be too exhausted to continue walking on our journey. ^_^

****
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. —Philippians 4:7

Friday, March 5, 2010

Touch of Love

8:28 AM 1 Comments

*please ignore the images on the video and just close your eyes*


Thank You Lord for the gift of music; for it helps and guides my spirit to move closer to Your world, peaceful and heavenly. Father, thank you for this moment. Oh Lord how I love to spend time with you, for it is only through it that I can easily see and value life being at the present, no past that haunts, no future to worry, just You and me. I love how in Your presence, I can feel Your love for me overflows.

Jesus, I will never get tired of being still to stare at Your beauty. I will never get tired of thanking You for the love You have for me. Lord, I love You too.

Father, the touch of Your love made wonders in my life. The touch of Your love comforts and strengthens my weak soul. Thank You for always being there for me Lord, for Your great patience, faithfulness and understanding. Oh how I love to be forever young when I am with You My First Love. I love how I can hug You and still can freely say funny things just to say that I love You.

I love You Lord and thank You. Did I already said that I love You? Because I love You, love You, love You, love You. I miss You everyday. I miss being with You. I love You and just I love You. I can't think of anything to say but I love You.

I just couldn't believe Lord how I can be comfortable to be in Your presence and just say nothing. I love how our relationship is getting better and better everyday. Thank You because You never give up on me, we have come this far because of Your great love for me. I am here to where we are now because Your love for me is so big and strong it never fails to pull me closer to You. I love You, My First Love. Thank You.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Love Life...

3:44 PM 1 Comments
The first time I felt an attraction towards the opposite sex, which I had perceived as love when I was much younger than I am today, I felt like as if I was in a me and him against the world kind of situation. The things that surrounds me doesn't matter much because I was in love and that he completes me. I thought food tasted better when I ate it with him. The world was so much brighter because he was there. I just couldn't understand why my older brother used to laugh at me because of how I acted and decided about things, I had always included us in everything.

I was already a Christian, a believer, a follower, an active member of a charismatic group when I had my first boy friend but my faith was still young. I, instead of sharing my plans with God, had shared my plans with him. Planned and gave my best to fulfill our plans.

In every relationship that I had, I always gave my everything, the best that I can be to make it work. I, instead of ending the relationship when I can see flaws, prayed and asked God to take away our feelings for each other, to give me a big crystal clear reason to end it or to help us find ways to improve it. My ex boy friends were nice to me and they are good people; i wouldn't have said yes to them if they weren't. However, for whatever reason that caused us to end, I just noticed that all of which had one common factor-it had eclipsed my personal relationship with God.

I said and did a lot of stupid funny things just because I was in love. I easily got hurt because things didn't go my way. I was funny and I am honestly not comfortable to look back at those times. Okay, it's fine for me to look back but just don't make fun of me because I said those things. It was fun and I was funny. It's not funny because I felt crazy for them, it was funny because they became my god. That's how our young love when we don't listen to our elders can turn to-a sort of worshiping an idol kind of thing; our bfs/gfs became gods in our lives.

What I learned from my past relationships is that even the best, in our own description, kind of love will never be enough to make us happy. We constantly change our love standards, people are sinful, fickle and unfaithful, and because of that human love will never be enough to make us happy.

Security and significance are two essential elements of emotional health; and we often rely on our human relationships to fulfill those essentials. We feel happy, complete and secure once we can constantly receive a gesture of affection from somebody who we love or even just by somebody who is important to us. A change or an absence of which can easily cause an imbalance to our emotional health.

God's love for us is everlasting, it will never change. It should be enough to provide us the security that we need in our lives. His love for us should be enough to let us know and feel that we are somebody in this world.

However, God understands our weaknesses as human and that's why through His grace and love, He provided us people to help us cope with those weaknesses. God gave us family, friends, romantic relationships and strangers to help us get through with our weaknesses and also, of course, for us to be the help in their lives. It's JUST a help. It shouldn't be our everything. It shouldn't be the only thing that can make us happy. We should understand that human relationships, human love is fleeting but God's love endureth forever.

He said, "I have loved you with an everlasting love." —Jeremiah 31:3