The Church | The Abundance of my Heart.

Rooted in Christ

In youth the other night we had the topic “Rooted in Christ”.

By identifying winds of our christian walk, we could find ways to deal with them. Winds such as worldly influences, doubts, temptations, peer pressure, seeing others blown over and not getting up, media, consumerism and other discouragements.

These winds can destroy our roots in Christ, namely our faith. We need to be mindful of our doctrine. (“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”-Ephesians 4:14) We are constantly bombarded with information, theories and ideas. We need to sift through what is true. (“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” – Colossians 2:6-8 )

What can i do to become more rooted and established in the faith?? I can excersize applying what i believe. I can know my Bible, grow in knowledge of God’s word. I can spend time with other christians. I can be watchful, be careful who teaches me, what i read, and go back to the standard of God’s word. I can learn from mistakes. I can read and pray.

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. -James 1:6

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on June 17, 2008 at 2:39 pm Comments (2)

Complaining while serving God?

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does. – Ephesians 6:7-8

This something that i need to be reminded of daily. Whether it is cleaning up the dishes, or doing school work, it is so easy to complain. But why complain, when what i do is all for God? How can i complain to the God who sent his only Son to die so that i could live eternally with Him?

If we realized that absolutely everything we do is for the Lord, would we do it differently? Would our attitude change? Even while singing congregational hymns and when working with people we don’t like?

God will reward us. God can’t reward us for more than we do. Not only can we do good, but we can do it with all of our hearts only for God.

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on June 7, 2008 at 9:16 pm Leave a Comment

Redeem the time

When life gets busy it is easy to waste time on things that don’t really matter. Wasting time is when nothing beneficial comes from the time spent, and in our christian walk, anything that doesn’t get us in the direction of our Goal.

Among many time wasters, the worst would be surfing the Internet without purpose (facebook…), electronics (TV, Movies, & Video games), media (texting…), pointless conversations, lounging and daydreaming/worrying. Some of these past times don’t interest me, some do. By identifying what tempts me most, i can have the power the fight the temptation of wasting time when i could be focusing on growing closer to God.

I can’t expect to use my time wisely if i don’t prioritize. If i make myself a schedule, i can make conscience decisions on how to spend my time. I also need to practise self-control, so that i can limit my time. By concentrating on what i do and multi-tasking at the same time, i will have more time for God. When i have time to wait, I have time to pray.

I can redeem the time of my youth years by doing as much as possible for the ministry. That is something that i will never forget. I can also make wise decisions for the future such as health, education, career, and who i am friends with.

Therefore He says: “ Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.” See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. –Ephesians 5: 14-17

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on June 1, 2008 at 10:33 pm Comments (1)

My Motto – Pleasing God

In a sermon today, I was reminded of what my motto is. Sometimes distractions are appealing, and the focus starts sliding off of the motive. If the only life that with fulfillment and true joy is one that pleases God, how do we know what pleases Him? By reading the Bible. The more we read, the more we know.

Areas in my life where i need to please God:

In my personal life. With my priorities and past times.
In my family life. Me and my house will serve the Lord.
In my school life. Serve as serving the Lord, not men.
In my church life. In all, to please you only.

And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way. (Colossians 1:10)

We were not worthy of the lamb that was sacrificed for us, but God is worthy enough that we should please Him in everything that we do.

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on May 25, 2008 at 11:35 pm Leave a Comment

Spiritual Beauty

God gave us a desire for beauty. The world emphasizes on the outward appearance, but the bible puts it on the inner being. Before we can put on the clothes of character, we need to take off the old clothes. As christians, we are to wear tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing and forgiving. Why do we need to but these on? Because if we were born with them, we wouldn’t need to put them on. We need spiritual beauty. We need to strive to become more beautiful. We need to find more ways to become prettier spiritually.

When we think back and remember people from years ago, we don’t remember their outfits, but their personality. Our spiritual clothing is real because it comes from the heart. Why do we want to clothe ourselves spiritually? It is out of gratitude for what God did for us. We need to be as similar to Jesus Christ as possible.

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. Colossians 3:12-14

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on May 22, 2008 at 2:53 pm Leave a Comment

Heaven’s Treasures

God saved our house and our belongings. Why? He could taught us something through losing everything, but He decided to teach us something through keeping everything. I don’t know the purpose all our material possessions have. I just pray that somehow God might use them to the growth of His Kingdom. At the time of the fire, I felt as though i was ready to give up everything. I was expecting to lose everything and suddenly these earthly things completely lost their value.

The miracle that God did reminded me that we need to store as many treasures in Heaven as we can. The earth will perish, but God’s home up above is what lasts. Lord, help me to fully give all my time and efforts to the growth of your Kingdom.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21 – “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

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on May 22, 2008 at 2:04 pm Comments (1)

Where could i go?

Where could I go oh where could I go
Seeking the refuge for my soul
Needing a friend to save me in the end
Where could I go but to the lord

These are the words of comfort that came to me just now as the firetrucks came to check on the fire. No where could i go that would be as comforting as to the Lord.

It seems as though when i need Him the most, the Lord puts lyrics in my thoughts that are comforting. I sing these words over and over again, keeping my faith in the Lord. I memorize scripture, but it doesn’t seem as though that comes back to me. It’s mostly those lyrics from church hymns, gospel CD’s, songs from Youth Choir and songs from childhood, such as the ones my parents used to sing to me, or from Sunday School. Music has made a huge difference in my pilgrimage to Heaven.

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on May 20, 2008 at 12:07 pm Comments (3)

I can’t feel at home in this world anymore!

This morning, early, when i had to pack up after the doorbell rang, i paniked. I asked God why. I didn’t understand why, but i did know that unlike some friends of ours, we had time to pack some things before the fire caption would ask us to leave. I thanked God for the time we were blessed with and told God that even if we would loose everything like our friends did, that He would help us through. Help us to trust Him that we would completely rely on Him. That He would be number one, not our possessions.

Thank you God for waking the neighbours, and that they could wake us. Thanks for watching over the men handling the fire until the trucks took over. Thanks for the garden hose that was just long enough. Thanks for giving me a new perspective on all that we own. Thanks for showing me how to trust you completely.

After the fire was out and just a few trees were damaged, i thanked God. I couldn’t stop. It has now given me a new joy in the Lord. A song that my mother sometimes sings came to me,

This world is not my home I’m just a passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore
Oh Lord you know I have no friend like you
If heaven’s not my home then Lord what will I do
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore

(Is there any recorded version that i can listen to? I can’t find it in any of our song books)

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on May 20, 2008 at 10:51 am Comments (1)

Distractions on the Highway to Heaven

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” – Luke 38-42

As Christians, we find ourselves on a highway to Heaven. We are on a journey and our vehicle is headed to Heaven. Along the way we are faced with many distractions. Because the devil hasn’t succeeded on keeping us off the highway to Heaven, his goal is to distract us that our goal becomes unclear and we soon drive off the highway. But because the Lord goes on before us, it is possible for all of us to make it.

There are natural conditions such as wind and rain and other poor road conditions and sometimes there are steep hills. There are road conditions that we can’t avoid no matter how good of a driver we are. God never promised that the highway to Heaven would be easy. Distractions to watch out for:

OTHER DRIVERS. Along our highway we will find other drivers. Often they are helpful and help lead us, but more times than not, they can become distractions. Mary had become a distraction to Martha. It is up to us not to let the other drivers to become a distraction. “Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?”
Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” ” – John 21:20-22 We are to follow Jesus because there are hypocrite drivers. Let’s move forward following Jesus because He is the driver we can always rely on.
ACCIDENTS. On the christian highway there are car wrecks. Timothy writes about believers “concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck” – 1 Timothy 1:19. When others have accidents, instead of stopping to help, some drivers simply gossip about the person with the spiritual accident. If we can’t help, let us drive on. Because if an accident can happen to others, it can happen to us. Roads can be icy. Temptation is that our nerve to keep driving will slip away. The devil wants us to pull over to the side of the road and stop. We need to trust God is with us and will help us to move on. God has given us everything we need to get to Heaven. He has given us all the information we need to keep driving. Sometimes we need new tires. Often we need to refuel ourselves by spending time with Him.
FAMILY. What about those backseat drivers in our lives? At times the family can be a great help on the road. May God help us that the entire family is on the highway to Heaven. Is our love for our family more that our love for God? We need to make our backseat drivers second priority to God. It is impossible to take our family along if we don’t give priority to our Pilot. We are personally responsible to not let others be a distraction. Matthew 10:37-38 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”
REAR-VIEW MIRRORS. God wants us to look ahead at His Will, but if we continually look back at the past, it is impossible to keep driving. Maybe we are boasting about our past successes after many years of serving God. Many people lose it just before there final destination. Maybe you are looking back and thinking that you should be farther. Maybe you feel as though you haven’t done good enough. Look ahead. “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” – Philippians 3:12 Maybe you are focusing on failures, but look ahead, he will guide you doe as long as you are on His Highway.

May God help us on the Highway to Heaven that we may never get distracted by the devil.

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