Check Your Heart

TEXT: Psalm 2

1.      IS IT A REBELLIOUS HEART?

a.       The nature of the ungodly is to rebel. -vv. 1-2

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

Humans are prone to resist authority. Our sinful nature, especially that of the unbelievers, keeps us from humbly accepting and obeying God's commandments. We tend to think that our own thoughts and ideas are always right. But our heart is deceitful and desperately wicked that eventually we find ourselves depending on our ways and 'following our hearts' rather than obey the Lord.

b.       God hates rebellion- vv. 1-4

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall have them in derision.

The LORD finds it foolish and ridiculous to rebel against him. He not only hate but deride those who do so.  Why would we rebel against someone we know is most powerful? Why would we rebel against our Creator and Savior? Why would we be foolish enough to think that lowly creatures like us are intelligent enough to be our own god? When we choose to follow our own will, we become enemies of God.

c.       God hates unbelievers because of their rebellion- vv. 1-2

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against his anointed, saying, the LORD against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

God hates unbelievers not because He just hates them but because they possess the qualities He hates. God hates wickedness, selfishness, rebellion, and pride and He can their hearts filled with such character.

d.       God punishes rebellion.- vv. 5, 8-9

He shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in sore displeasure.

God does not let such people go to continue their wicked devices. He who is holy punishes their sins to show them that it is not the right thing to do. 

2.       IS IT A YIELDING HEART?

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are they that put their trust in him.

a.       The act of surrender is the wisest decision a Christian can make.

b.       God check the sincerity of the heart.

c.       God loves the submissive and surrendering heart.

d.       Trusting is an act of yielding.

e.       God blesses those who depend on him alone.

Conclusion: Serve the Lord with fear and right attitude. God hates rebellion in any way but he blesses those who willingly obey.

Making Right Decisions

TEXT: Psalm 1

Decision-making can be both complicated and dangerous. Our life is full of situations where we have to make decisions and whatever choice we make will result to what kind of life we will have or what kind of person we will become in the future. The righteous man in God's eyes wisely make choices according to God's will. Unlike the rest, he does not…

1.       base his decisions on what others think is right.

"walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly"---> He does not ask for the opinion of people who do not love God nor desire to please Him. He does not listen to those who choose to 'make their own rules' and 'be their own god'.

"I will listen to different opinions and see what is perfect for me."

"I will think of a way which suits me best or make me feel most comfortable."

2.      base his decisions on what others do.

"nor standeth in the way of sinners" ---> He does not do the same thing people who follow their own lusts do. (the majority rule) He is not someone who does not have his own ground and merely goes with the flow.

"What the majority does may be the right thing to do. I will do what most of them do."

3.      base his decisions on what others hate or find worthless.

"nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful" ---> He does not listen to what others laugh about.

"They don't like me doing it. It must be wrong."

"They laugh at it. This idea must be ridiculous."

Decisions must be based on a solid ground, the Word of God.

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."

1.       Turn to the Word of God.

This means choosing to meditate on God's truth instead of listening to different voices you hear (loved ones, peers,  society, media, your own ego)  and prioritizing to listen to God's counsel rather than friendly chats and advices.

2.       Delight in the Word of God.

This means enjoying the Word of God, from reading, learning, to seeking to do it. Delighting means having great desire to listen to God's say on the matter rather than the opinions of the rest of the world. It is a commitment that the Lord's voice is the basis of every decision one makes.

3.      Meditate on the Word of God.

Meditating is more than simply reading the Bible. It is more of carefully listening to what God has to say. This means not stopping until one understands what God wants him to do as well as His plan for his life.

CONCLUSION:

The passage provides two choices: to choose your own will or to choose God's will for your life. If you base your decisions on yourself-- what you want or what others want for you--you will be like 'chaff which the wind driveth away'. Everything you do results to nothing. No matter how hard you work, everything becomes vain. Things become worse. But if you choose to carefully listen to the Lord's voice and understand that He has a plan for your life, just like the 'tree planted by the rivers of water', your decisions will be right and everything you do will prosper.

not mine :)

I Have Been Blessed

Another favorite of mine. This song always encourages me and telling me that I should always be thankful to the Lord.

I HAVE BEEN BLESSED

When He moves among us all that He does

All of His mercy, all of His love

If the pen of the writer could write everyday

Even this world could never contain

I have been blessed

The warmth in the winter the flowers in spring

The laughter in summer and the changing of leaves

There's food on my table, a good place to sleep

Clothes on my back and shoes on my feet

I have been blessed

I have been blessed God's so good to me

Precious are His thoughts of you and me

No way I could count them there's not enough time

So I'll just thank Him for being so kind

God has been good, so good

I have been blessed.

Arms that can raise and a voice that can talk

Hands that can touch and legs that can walk

Ears that can listen, eyes that can see

Oh, I've got to praise Him as long as I breathe

I have been blessed

Father and mother who nurtured and raised

Brothers and sisters, memories made

Our pastor to lead us, this altar to pray

Stripes that can heal and a blood that can save

I have been blessed

He's my should to lean on when I am down

The rock where He leads me when I'm overwhelmed 

The place where He hides me under His wings

He's not just a song, He's the reason I sing

I have been blessed.

All Along

Have I posted this before? I want to share my favorite song. Or should I say the theme song of my life. I love my Lord for He's always there for me no matter how many times I fall...I know He loves me more, He loves me so much, and He's willing to transform me, change me, and conform me into His image, every time I come to Him and ask for His help.

ALL ALONG

Time just drifts away and as I look back on the years

Many years of happiness and bitter tears

Through it all there was a common thread that cannot be ingnored

You were there teaching me to be your servant, Lord

All along Your hand has been guiding me,

shaping my life to be a beautiful song

All along You've led me through 

the things that you do would make me strong

Your love has been there all along.

Every joy and pain has a reason of its own

Now I realize that I was not alone

The changing seasons of my life were not lift up to change

Lord I know you were working to fulfill Your plan.

Repeat Chorus

Tomorrow if I turn around and I look back at today

I will understand your purpose and my grateful heart will say...

Repeat Chorus

Thoughts...Realizations (During the First Week of Classes)

It's been a while since I decided to make this blog private for some reasons I no longer remember (hehe). Anyway, there has been a number of changes that happened in my life since then.

1. Yes, I successfully graduated from college this year by God's grace! Truly a blessing from above! Although there had been a number of people who helped me along the way-- my parents, my uncle, my friends, brothers and sisters in Christ who prayed for me, etc.-- there's someone whom I owe everything: the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who's been with me all along, through my pains, struggles, challenges, and through my successes, blessings, and joys. God has always been there and by His grace I believe I am so blessed. :)

2. I enrolled for a one-year certificate program (though still tentative) where I think will really be entirely upon God's grace. He will provide and suffice and if He wills me to continue, this might be one of the greatest blessings I've had in my life. There's much more that God has to purge and mold so that I may be able to conform to His image.

Training. Growth. Spiritual intimacy.

I do not desire for more, really. If there's something I really desire in my life, it's to (1) be able to love the Lord with all my heart, soul, spirit, and strength, to love Him so much that I'll always give Him the first claim of my life; to love Him so much that I'll desire to be in fellowship with Him every single minute of my life; to love Him so much that I won't dare hurt His feelings and that I'll do everything to glorify Him, (2) be more like Christ that when people look at me and my life, it's not me but Jesus whom they will see, that every time I do something, it will be for a blessing and of service to others; that my life will be focused outward, striving to honor God and minister to men in order to please Him; that in every character, every conduct, represents my Savior, my Lord; and that everything I do, there's a name who will be lifted up: Jesus, the sweetest name I know, and (3) be a virtuous woman, a woman God desires every woman to be, a woman who abides in the Word, who fears the Lord, who rests on His promises, who keeps His commandments, a woman who has a good testimony for the Lord.

There are many voices around me telling me what I should do in order to please men. Voices that tell me doing them means obedience...but the Lord speaks to my heart that no matter what happens, I should put Him first in my life. I should seek Him, and I should spend my time and resources for things that truly satisfy. It's so contradicting. Like the east is from the west. Things are not going my way. Things are going very unexpectedly. But God is able to deliver me, I know. He will give me wisdom to make wise and right decisions...to do what He really wills. I am so weak yet He is strong. And the more I encounter difficulties, the more I think of Him, the more I feel weak and incompetent, the more I realize He's strong and powerful. I know that His grace is sufficient for me for His strength is made perfect in weakness. Most rather therefore will I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. To God be the glory!

credits to Bible Verse Quotes

A 'Dream' Come True

The semester's almost over.  It's wonderful to think God gave me this great opportunity to study in a Bible school. It was before an almost impossible dream (because I'm a career woman) but God has truly blessed me with this school, with Bible student friends, with godly professors. At the same time, I can't help but to wonder what the end of all this could be. Will this be the last? Or will I be able to pursue or certificate program next year? Will I be able to enroll in music classes? How will the Lord work in my life in the next school year?

Reminiscing the past, I realized how the LORD weaved my story during these past few months:

September 2012: I will be a teacher soon.
October 2012: I read the new book I bought and contemplated on my spiritual life.
October 6, 2012: I committed to surrender my life to the Lord on the altar during a church's mission's conference (not as a Bible student, just my life)
October 15 or 22, 2012: I was invited to attend the voice recital in UP. Bible students were also invited. Met Bro. Christian, a Bible student from BJ.
October 16 or 23, 2012: searched the Bible school on the net...ahh! Sis. Catherine graduated there?
November 6, 2012: Accidentally saw Sis. Catherine at school and she advised me to inquire there. asked for directions. inquired at the school. Attended the devotion at 7pm.
November 8, 2012: Visited again. Met Bro. Christian again. It's been a while. Attended free classes, Women of the Old Testament and False Theological Systems. Met Sis. Faith at WOT and a Vietnamese named Sis. Minh at FTS.
November 9, 2012: Enrolled. Attended the devotion at 7pm.
November 13, 2012: First class. Learned a different view about prayer.
January 2013: Got my library card!
February 2013: Got my uniform!

Every time I attended class, I realized the more how the Lord loves me and how He has been faithful to me all this time. My Lord has been so great, He knows the best for my life. I want to know Him more. The future is truly uncertain but the Lord has a perfect plan.

Contemplations on my Life Goals

1. Know the LORD more

2. Love the LORD with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength

3. Learn different skills necessary to serve my family and other people (be a well-rounded woman)

4. Be a 'full-time' Bible student

5. Be a virtuous handmaid of the Lord

6. Build a family loving and serving the Lord and help others build the same.

Looking at these lifetime goals I have set for myself, sometimes I wonder why I have a great desire to pursue them. All my life, I have been living in an environment that desires to materially successful. I am a career woman. Everyday I hear from our professors that we'll be rich this way or that way...that studying in such a school offers us lots of opportunities in the field. My classmates want to be rich. Rich professors strive to get richer. Everyone dreams of having a high-paying job, building huge mansions, buying expensive cars, and living a comfortable life. 

I, too, dreamed of having them. I wanted to show both believers and unbelievers who have constantly ridiculed those who serve the Lord, that Christian workers can also be materially prosperous. I did not want them saying serving the Lord offers no benefit, that it's only an excuse of getting money from people. Even though I were not planning to marry a pastor or a missionary, I did not want them forbidding me to marry one because I would become poor. Well, I did not want to become poor. All the more, I were proud enough to ask help from other people, especially when it's about money. 

But recently I feel like losing my interest with a huge mansion, a good career, and other life's pleasures and indulgences. Yes, it's nice to have them but talking so much about them, working hard for them, striving so hard to get them, like achieving such pleasures is only what life is all about, doesn't make any sense to me. A loved one recently told me that his mother's life is now worthless because she's old enough and her children already had their own stable lives. He added that he can as well die after his children graduate and well, finish paying his life plan insurance so that his loved ones would no longer worry about the expenses for his funeral.

"Is this what life is really all about?" I thought. Waking up. Eating. Buying clothes. Studying. Working. Marrying. Having children. Dying.

What's the point then of being a Christian? Preachers continually say that we should live for Christ and serve Him while we may, but why does it feel like Christianity is merely a social or interest club? Why does it feel like Christian service is just an extra, a spice to enjoy life better? Why do they think working extra for the Lord means sacrifice?

I myself am not an exception. While it is my desire to be close to Him, while I have already committed one day to surrender my life to Him, I know most of the time I still fail to love Him with all my heart. Most of the time I'm still fooled by my deceitful and wicked heart.  While I have said a million times I want His will to be done in my life, I know at the back of my mind, I oft find it hard to imagine myself seeing the ones I know before saying, "Where did all your education and hard work go?" "Your parents wasted their money and effort just to have you finish college." "Where is your god?" "Isn't Christian service just an excuse for not being successful in your life?" It's even weirder to think how I actually imagine of being a virtuous servant of God. No particular career. But I want to spend my life glorifying the Lord. I mean, how is that possible? With my wicked life? Why am I even desiring to be with Him? Why do I even enjoy studying in the Bible school? Why do I even want to study full time there? Why do I want to learn everything I could so that I could help in any ministry? Everyone expects me to be something. I don't know but right now I just want to be a virtuous woman for the Lord--not a master teacher, not a high-paying professor, not a principal. Maybe I could work but my primary goal is to be someone who loves the Lord and others, someone who serves the Lord and others. Perhaps it's because God's Word tells us to put Him first in our lives. But shouldn't every Christian feel this way? 

I feel like everything in this world is vain. Without God, my life will also be in vain. I do not plan to be a missionary, a pastor's wife, nor a missionary's wife. Just a worker who does everything she can for the Lord. Just a Christian worker who is Christ-like and loves the Lord. You know, just like Daniel and Esther. I don't what awaits me with this desire. I feel so burdened, I really want this in my life but I don't want to make decisions based on my feelings. I'm the worst Christian but I want to be better by His grace. I want to have godly friends who would completely understand me. I truly desire to be close with those who share my desire. I believe I need friends who will understand me, encourage me and pray for me as I encourage and pray for them as well. I pray that God would give me these friends. I pray that I would make the wisest decisions by God's grace. I pray that He be the first priority in my life. I pray that He give me a deep burden for others so that I may think of them rather than myself. I pray that Jesus would be my best friend for ever. 

Not a genie. 

A best friend. 

Disclaimer: can't remember where I got it but it's not mine