Today, some Australians that came to my school. We they were all tall, very tall.
We had some great time. We introduced to them our culture and games and they introduced theirs- Australian football which is like rugby but smaller.
Well, we had a great time, but well, I going to miss this day.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Day 2: You Are Not an Accident
Day:2 You Are Not an Accident
I believe that is God's guidance that I'm still reading this book. Most book I'd probably get bored on the second day. Well, this books seems to interest me a lot.
---------------------------------------------
"I am your creator. You were in my care even before you were born."
Isaiah 44:2a
Our birth here was no mistake or mishap. Even if our parents did not plan us, but God did. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that we are breathing at this moment. We are alive because God created us.
"God doesn't play dice."
Albert Einstein
"The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me"
Psalm 138:8a
God prescribed every single detail of our body. He did not simply put us together or we might be looking the same. He custom-made our body just the way he wanted it.
"You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You now exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something."
Psalm 139:15
From the verse we can see he knows us well because he created us in detail. We are not created without any purpose, God created us with a purpose for him. He even planned what purpose to place in us before he created us.
He even decided our beginning and the end on earth. He planned the exact date and time of our birth and even our death on earth.
"You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your Book"
Psalm 139:16
Where we are, where we live, who is our parents, our nationality, our race, where we study was all included in God's plan. He planned all these for a purpose. No detail was left to chance.
"From one man he made every nation,... and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live."
Acts 17:26
He made all these just for one thing- his purpose.
Many children are unplanned by their parents, but they are not unplanned by God. God's purpose took into account human error, and even sin. He never does anything accidentally. He has reason for everything he creates.
Know what is God's motive for creating us? It was his love that is so great.
"Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love."
Ephesians 1:4a
Here it is clearly written that God already been thinking about our existence even before the world was created. Well, that in fact why he created it. He created this planet's environment just to be suitable for us to live in. We are the focus of his love and most valuable of all his creation.
"God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things he made."
James 1:18
It is how wonderful that God planned all with such great precision. It can be seen how earth is made to suite us.
"God formed the earth.... He did not create it to be empty but formed it to be inhabited."
Isaiah 45:18
Maybe some of us are wondering: why did God care to go though all the trouble of creating a universe for us? This is because he is a God of love. This is the love which is difficult to fathom, but it's fundamentally reliable. We were created as a special object of God's love. He made us so that he can love us and this is a truth to build your life on.
"God is love."
1 John 4:8
Its not God has love. He is love. Love is the essence of God's character. He loves you no matter who you are and no matter what. God created us not because he was lonely but is because he wanted to express his love.
"I have carried you since you were born; I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you."
Isaiah 46:3-4
If there was no God, we would all be "accidents," the result of astronomical random chance in the universe and life would have no purpose or meaning or significance. There would be no right or wrong, no hope beyond your brief years here on earth.
But there is a God who make us for a reason, and our life has profound meaning. We discover that meaning and purpose only when we make God the reference point of our lives.
Here is a poem by Russell Kelfer sums it up:
You are who you are for a reason.
You're part of an intricate plan.
You're a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God's special woman or man.
You look like you look for a reason.
Our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb,
You're just what he wanted to make.
The parents you had were the ones he chose,
And no matter how you may feel,
They were custom-designed with God's plan in mind,
And they bear the Master's seal.
No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
And God wept that it hurt you so;
But it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into his likeness you'd grow.
You are who you are for a reason,
You've been formed by the Master's rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there us a God!
Russell Kelfer
I believe that is God's guidance that I'm still reading this book. Most book I'd probably get bored on the second day. Well, this books seems to interest me a lot.
---------------------------------------------
"I am your creator. You were in my care even before you were born."
Isaiah 44:2a
Our birth here was no mistake or mishap. Even if our parents did not plan us, but God did. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that we are breathing at this moment. We are alive because God created us.
"God doesn't play dice."
Albert Einstein
"The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me"
Psalm 138:8a
God prescribed every single detail of our body. He did not simply put us together or we might be looking the same. He custom-made our body just the way he wanted it.
"You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You now exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something."
Psalm 139:15
From the verse we can see he knows us well because he created us in detail. We are not created without any purpose, God created us with a purpose for him. He even planned what purpose to place in us before he created us.
He even decided our beginning and the end on earth. He planned the exact date and time of our birth and even our death on earth.
"You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your Book"
Psalm 139:16
Where we are, where we live, who is our parents, our nationality, our race, where we study was all included in God's plan. He planned all these for a purpose. No detail was left to chance.
"From one man he made every nation,... and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live."
Acts 17:26
He made all these just for one thing- his purpose.
Many children are unplanned by their parents, but they are not unplanned by God. God's purpose took into account human error, and even sin. He never does anything accidentally. He has reason for everything he creates.
Know what is God's motive for creating us? It was his love that is so great.
"Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love."
Ephesians 1:4a
Here it is clearly written that God already been thinking about our existence even before the world was created. Well, that in fact why he created it. He created this planet's environment just to be suitable for us to live in. We are the focus of his love and most valuable of all his creation.
"God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things he made."
James 1:18
It is how wonderful that God planned all with such great precision. It can be seen how earth is made to suite us.
"God formed the earth.... He did not create it to be empty but formed it to be inhabited."
Isaiah 45:18
Maybe some of us are wondering: why did God care to go though all the trouble of creating a universe for us? This is because he is a God of love. This is the love which is difficult to fathom, but it's fundamentally reliable. We were created as a special object of God's love. He made us so that he can love us and this is a truth to build your life on.
"God is love."
1 John 4:8
Its not God has love. He is love. Love is the essence of God's character. He loves you no matter who you are and no matter what. God created us not because he was lonely but is because he wanted to express his love.
"I have carried you since you were born; I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you."
Isaiah 46:3-4
If there was no God, we would all be "accidents," the result of astronomical random chance in the universe and life would have no purpose or meaning or significance. There would be no right or wrong, no hope beyond your brief years here on earth.
But there is a God who make us for a reason, and our life has profound meaning. We discover that meaning and purpose only when we make God the reference point of our lives.
Here is a poem by Russell Kelfer sums it up:
You are who you are for a reason.
You're part of an intricate plan.
You're a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God's special woman or man.
You look like you look for a reason.
Our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb,
You're just what he wanted to make.
The parents you had were the ones he chose,
And no matter how you may feel,
They were custom-designed with God's plan in mind,
And they bear the Master's seal.
No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
And God wept that it hurt you so;
But it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into his likeness you'd grow.
You are who you are for a reason,
You've been formed by the Master's rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there us a God!
Russell Kelfer
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Day 1: It All Starts with God
Well, today I started my journey of 40 days reading the Purpose Driven Life.
Well, Day 1/40.
Before that, would like to talk about the introduction, I really did not notice that so many events went through 40 days of process and was transformed. Jesus however was empowered by 40 days in the wilderness.
Day 1: It All Starts with God
"For everything, absolutely everything,
above and below, visible and invisible,...
everything got started in him and
finds its purpose in him."
Colossians 1:16
From here we can know everything was created by him, so to find our purpose we have to find our creator that is God. But we must have faith that God exist and He has his purpose for us.
"Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless"
Bertrand Russell, atheist
If you want to know why we were placed on this planet, God is the one we must begin with because we are born by his purpose and for his purpose. I'm sure God has a plan for everyone just that maybe some of us haven't discovered God's plan yet.
Peoples get puzzled about the search for their purpose in life since the beginning of time.
This search is this here, because we typically begin at the wrong starting point-ourselves. We always ask questions centered about us. There is where the problem is because by only focusing on ourselves, life's purpose cannot be found.
The Bible tells us:
"It is God directs the lives of his creatures; everyone's life is in his power."
Job 12:10
Rick Warren tells us:
"Focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose"
One think for sure is that we won't discover our life's purpose by looking within yourself like those said in many books.
For example, a new invention was invented but yet we won't know how to use it without the manual or the creator telling us how. No one except the creator can tell you you purpose.
"We were made by God and for God"
Until you understand the above statement, life will never make sense.
Many people try to use God for their own self-actualization, but this reversal of nature will bring us no where but failure.
Remember, we were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use us for his purpose and not use using him for our own purpose.
"Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life."
Romans 8:6
Self-help books offer predictable steps in finding life's purpose- consider your dream, clarify your values, set goals... well, ya all these often lead to great success. But being successful and fulfilling your life's purpose are not at all the issue.
Yes, you can be successful in the world but yet still miss the true purpose God created you for.
"Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self."
Matthew 16:25
Finding your purpose is not about cramming more activities into your daily overloaded schedule, it actually teaches us to do less in life-by focusing on what matters most, becoming what God created you to be. Many people I assume have overloaded schedule doing things that has no connection with their purpose.
There are two options to find out about the purpose of your life.
Your first option-speculation. This is what people often choose. They conjecture, they guess, they theorize. But when its comes to finding the purpose of life, even the wisest are only just guessing. There is less conclusion that can be made by speculation.
Fortunately, there is another way- revelation. We can turn to what God has revealed about life in his Word- the Bible. The Bible is our Owner's Manual. God created us, therefore he is our creator and to know our purpose we have to ask the one who first created us. God has revealed his purpose for us in the Bible, because the contains in the Bible are His words. It explains what no other self-help book could know.
"God's wisdom... goes deep into the interior of his purpose.... It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest-what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us."
1 Corinthians 2:7
God is not the starting point of our life; he is the source of it.
"It's in Christ that we find our who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone."
Ephesians 1:11
The above verse gives us three insights into our purpose:
In finding our purpose, it is not about us, its all about God, its starts with God and it last with God.
Well, Day 1/40.
Before that, would like to talk about the introduction, I really did not notice that so many events went through 40 days of process and was transformed. Jesus however was empowered by 40 days in the wilderness.
Day 1: It All Starts with God
"For everything, absolutely everything,
above and below, visible and invisible,...
everything got started in him and
finds its purpose in him."
Colossians 1:16
From here we can know everything was created by him, so to find our purpose we have to find our creator that is God. But we must have faith that God exist and He has his purpose for us.
"Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless"
Bertrand Russell, atheist
If you want to know why we were placed on this planet, God is the one we must begin with because we are born by his purpose and for his purpose. I'm sure God has a plan for everyone just that maybe some of us haven't discovered God's plan yet.
Peoples get puzzled about the search for their purpose in life since the beginning of time.
This search is this here, because we typically begin at the wrong starting point-ourselves. We always ask questions centered about us. There is where the problem is because by only focusing on ourselves, life's purpose cannot be found.
The Bible tells us:
"It is God directs the lives of his creatures; everyone's life is in his power."
Job 12:10
Rick Warren tells us:
"Focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose"
One think for sure is that we won't discover our life's purpose by looking within yourself like those said in many books.
For example, a new invention was invented but yet we won't know how to use it without the manual or the creator telling us how. No one except the creator can tell you you purpose.
"We were made by God and for God"
Until you understand the above statement, life will never make sense.
Many people try to use God for their own self-actualization, but this reversal of nature will bring us no where but failure.
Remember, we were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use us for his purpose and not use using him for our own purpose.
"Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life."
Romans 8:6
Self-help books offer predictable steps in finding life's purpose- consider your dream, clarify your values, set goals... well, ya all these often lead to great success. But being successful and fulfilling your life's purpose are not at all the issue.
Yes, you can be successful in the world but yet still miss the true purpose God created you for.
"Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self."
Matthew 16:25
Finding your purpose is not about cramming more activities into your daily overloaded schedule, it actually teaches us to do less in life-by focusing on what matters most, becoming what God created you to be. Many people I assume have overloaded schedule doing things that has no connection with their purpose.
There are two options to find out about the purpose of your life.
Your first option-speculation. This is what people often choose. They conjecture, they guess, they theorize. But when its comes to finding the purpose of life, even the wisest are only just guessing. There is less conclusion that can be made by speculation.
Fortunately, there is another way- revelation. We can turn to what God has revealed about life in his Word- the Bible. The Bible is our Owner's Manual. God created us, therefore he is our creator and to know our purpose we have to ask the one who first created us. God has revealed his purpose for us in the Bible, because the contains in the Bible are His words. It explains what no other self-help book could know.
"God's wisdom... goes deep into the interior of his purpose.... It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest-what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us."
1 Corinthians 2:7
God is not the starting point of our life; he is the source of it.
"It's in Christ that we find our who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone."
Ephesians 1:11
The above verse gives us three insights into our purpose:
- You discover your indentity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
- God was thinking of you long before you ever thought about him. His purpose for your life predates your conception. He planned it before you existed, without your input! You may choose your career, your spouse, your hobbies, and many other parts of your life, but you don't get t0 choose your purpose.
- The purpose of your life fits into a much larger, cosmic purpose that God has designed for eternity.
In finding our purpose, it is not about us, its all about God, its starts with God and it last with God.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
I have decided
Well, I have decided to start my book of Purpose Driven Life on 10/9/08.
I know its going to be tough to daily read it but well I'll take that challenge to read it everyday (40 days).
I also have faith that in this reading process my life can be changed, new things can be learned and many more.
I'm sure God have prepared something for me.
So, 40 days starting from 10/9/2008, which ends on 20/10/08, I'm ready to take on this life changing challenge.
I know its going to be tough to daily read it but well I'll take that challenge to read it everyday (40 days).
I also have faith that in this reading process my life can be changed, new things can be learned and many more.
I'm sure God have prepared something for me.
So, 40 days starting from 10/9/2008, which ends on 20/10/08, I'm ready to take on this life changing challenge.
Second in command
Well, a new responsibility for me, just been given the position of assistant head prefect on Monday 8/9/08.
Well, its a mix of feeling given this position. First of all I feel happy, because it is an opportunity for me to learn skills and many more. Secondly, I can say its a new challenge for me in many aspects in school from time management to leadership ( which I quite lack). But well, overall I'm prepare to take on this position and challenge.
By the way, I really thank God for this opportunity.
Well, its a mix of feeling given this position. First of all I feel happy, because it is an opportunity for me to learn skills and many more. Secondly, I can say its a new challenge for me in many aspects in school from time management to leadership ( which I quite lack). But well, overall I'm prepare to take on this position and challenge.
By the way, I really thank God for this opportunity.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
When? Is it now?
Well my copy of Purpose Driven Life is here for weeks now,
I wonder when to start it,
I want to but than I'm scare that I may read half-way and again put it aside when I'm tired,
40 days of devotion, seems tough for me ...
I'll start it but not sure when, I hope I'll know when is the right timing...
I wonder when to start it,
I want to but than I'm scare that I may read half-way and again put it aside when I'm tired,
40 days of devotion, seems tough for me ...
I'll start it but not sure when, I hope I'll know when is the right timing...
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