They Changed the World

Anti-government protests in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Tunisia and Iran are among the vivacious flames of a massive regional wildfire of political unrest that has blazed across the Middle East over the last 2 months. And the leaders of these revolutions are not profound statesmen or respected clerics but only common young adults largely younger than 30.

The recent removal of Egyptian president Murabak showed you that you don’t need a superpower nation like the US to change the control of a country. Hassan Nafaa, political-science professor at Cairo University remarked in an article I read in the current issue of Time magazine,”These young people have done more in a few weeks than their parents did in 30 years”. This incident was a loud example of the power this generation wields.

“(young people) were the de facto opposition in many of these countries, but they didn’t see their own power”, said Jared Cohen, director of Google Ideas (noted also from Time magazine). Like everyone else, I am very upset about the chaos happening on the other side of world; but I am also yet amazed at the potential our generation possesses.

Can you imagine the impact we as Christians can have on this world if we radically took our faith seriously! I mean it has been said that the soda beverage Coca-Cola has established its name in every country of world. Don’t you think we should have that title?

We have the greatest power in world. By Jesus, we have overcome the world. That’s stronger than any force of zealous protesters!

As these revolutionaries change the world, I wonder if I could beheld to see in my time my generation turn the world upset down for the name of Jesus Christ.

War

A common excuse I have for God is,”Hey God I want to be with you but I just don’t have time.” But when you add it up- an hour on Facebook, some hours playing some computer games and hanging with friends and homework is thrown at the tail of that somewhere- honestly, we really don’t have an excuse to say I don’t have time for God.

Looking at myself, I feel we enjoy the comfort of being independent. Evaluate your day and you’ll see its mostly made of things that you want to do. Night sets in, and end up again giving God the leftovers of our day. What I fail to see that there is a war raging in all of us: our flesh vs the spirit.

Paul said: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” (Gal 5:17 NKJV)

Flesh and Spirit competing each other for our attention. The flesh seeks us to live out our selfish ambitions – ‘I’m in for me!’; however the Spirit is calling us to seek Christ and develop in the life to which He calls us.

Do you see how different these two forces are? There two extremes both at the divide of the line, pulling at the arms to win you over to their side.

Understand every moment outside God’s presence is time lost to please ourselves.

Remember more importantly that you are among“…those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Gal 5:24 NKJV).

God has already destroyed the power of your flesh. Ask Him for the strength to overcome it that you may fully walk in the spirit.

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Gal 5:16 NKJV)

Normal

“Have you ever found yourself wondering whether or not the goal of life should be normalcy?” -Francis Chan

I saw this question on the website for his book, Crazy Love. It made me remember someone, one day, complimenting me that I was normal. My idea of normal is to elevate myself as much as I can in the monotony of life, such as: get a car, get a girlfriend, get a good looking click of people to hang with, get some reputation for yourself. But is that what we are to live for? We are meant to live for so much more.

Christ provided a prosperous new life found in his will. Why does reclining in the confines of my comfort zone seem so much safer than banking on relentless dependence on the power of almighty God?

Do I prefer trusting what I can see over living by faith?

I believe any trust outside of faith in Christ deliberately doubts God’s strength. If I believe what Christ says and what he has said in His Word and if I believe that by His grace I have everything I need, than what do I have to loose in abandoning myself totally to Christ?

“Set your affection on things above and not on things of this world” Col 3:2. To give our utmost for the highest place of knowing God while on planet Earth, we need to shift our mind from indulging in the temporary affairs around us. Seek the treasure of the kingdom.

Suprise Super Bowl Commercial and Hidden Seeds

“And He said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.'” -Mark 4:26-27

Opportunity is rare. But when its open, it can reap impressive results. Check out last night’s Super Bowl game. Its the time of year where the ‘best and funniest’ commercials are displayed. Ads are high as $3 million for 30 seconds!

One ad made entitled,”Look Up 3:16″ was a brief, creative 30 second that inspired viewers to simply look at the verse John 3:16. Fixed Point Foundation who made the commercial also created a website that interpreted and explained the verse.

But the Fox Sports Channel that aired the Super Bowl had the commercial rejected to air commercial nationally under the basis of “religious doctrine” and for being offensive. The door had seemed shut; but then just as a seed that is planted in the ground: it can sprout and flourish unexpectedly.

The John 3:16 commercial aired unexpectedly before the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl game in the US capital and in the state Alabama. For hours, the Look Up 3:16 suffered to load its web page because so many people were on the site at the same time!

A harvest has been sown. Who knows the numbers reaped!

“Few people have the chance to say something meaningful. And more often than not, that opportunity is wasted”, said Fixed Point Foundation’s executive director, Larry Taunton. “What if you used that opportunity to do something great?”.

A parable Jesus taught spoke of a farmer planted a seed into the ground and while he slept and rose, the seed grew and later sprouted unexpectedly.

One way how we can apply this parable is to remind ourselves that in sowing the message of Christ into others, we can reap incredible results beyond our imagination. We just need to fulfill our role to spread the Good News and then stand back and watch our God work wonders.

I Wish We All Be Ready….

There is a amateur, animated video which is currently posted on Youtube that depicts the Rapture. Story line begins streaming aspects of would be dubbed “everyday life”: people working, shopping and walking to and fro.

Then at a moment a trumpet sounds and the sky recedes. In a flash, vast numbers of people vanish, leaving people petrified and dumbfounded.

Although this is just a cartoon, it did capture my mind. For Jesus said, “Surely I am comely quickly” (Rev 22:20). So this literally intrepets he is coming very soon. At any moment in my everyday the sky can roll back like a curtain and the trumpet will resound. I can’t really say right now that I am ready to see Jesus.

Are you?

God, I want you to come for me but I want you to be proud of me when you do. Help me to be faithful.

Here is the link to the video:

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Psalms 118:1 says, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”

Recently, I have had moved to be more grateful for the things God has blessed me with in my life. Of course I do dream and wish I had a guitar to strum on or a plane ticket to Australia; but God has given me so much for which I do take for granted.

Like we should be so grateful for God’s mercy. Remember we sinned, and we deserved to suffer under God’s just wrath.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph 2:4-5).

We were sinners in the hands of an angry God, but God showed us mercy. Aren’t you grateful?

God, thank you. You have given me so much. I thank also for you taking my punishment and giving me life. Help me to be more grateful.