Two Weeks

"TWO WEEKS"- That's what I said yesterday. "Two weeks" that's what she said last Spring... at Prayer and Prophecy night (on Mondays at the prayer shed behind the Jesus Burgers House. They listen and God shows them stuff about you) She asked if I like to travel coz she sensed I was going away somewhere really really soon then she said 2 weeks.... she wasn't sure what exactly it meant... Maybe that God would show me where I'd be going 2 weeks before or something but she just felt like it was significant.

Two weeks --that's what I said yesterday (and then remembered that vision) it's 2 weeks before ONE VOICE. Two weeks-- that's all I have left to get the Word out...

https://www.facebook.com/events/288394394652895/

_________________________________________________________________________________

Update: ONE WEEK

One week down,... this week the One body team has been advertising the event on campus (digiknow, posters, flyers in the dorms and on campus and even a promo video which will be ready by Monday) and I praise God for that... now we really need help in spreading the Word to local churches and any other ministries in the area so please help us out by reaching out to your church this weekend. And please keep us and this event in your prayers. Unity is a powerful weapon against the enemy's schemes (especially unity in prayer and worship) and if you read the Scriptures that is what leads to large-scale revival and city transformation. Have Your way in our city God! =)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umQ_-cavBa8

King Like Mine

Tonight is a Good night. This activist, this revolutionary, this Jesus, put His money where His mouth was, He lived for the Cause and died for the Cause. The Cause of the oppressed, the captives, the marginalized. He came for the sick, the lost. To serve them, to love them, to give His life for them. In return He too was marginalized and He was rejected, ridiculed, beaten and even crucified. The day that True love died so that I could live. Love set me free. Tonight is a Good night.

(Read Isaiah 53) *[This was a Good Friday post]*

I'll sit on the sidelines as long as He's sitting with me =)

Some more facts about my King :-)

The Source & Goal of Knowledge

{Last Course in the series: Reforming Education, Reforming America: Practicals}

Addressing the spiritual issues should be the first part of the renewal process because that is the root of true and lasting change. Many attempts to reform education take an external approach by trying to find new methods that would work better but I agree with Palmer that, “To find new ways of transmitting knowledge, we must find a new knowledge. To find a better medium we must find a better message.” (Palmer 30) I also agree with Palmer’s conviction that a knowledge inspired by love and striving for truth is what will bring lasting transformation to conventional education.

So, what is this spiritual renewal about? And why is it so necessary?

It is about being re-united with our God-given spiritual side that we have neglected, re-united with each other and the world we live in. We need to turn from our materialistic ways and focus on what matters most. Yes we need to focus on the true source of knowledge, the Creator, God. And we need to be reunited with the true goal of knowledge and Wisdom which is love. To love God, and to love each other as we love ourselves. To love communally.

Personally, I was brought up in a Christian family but I still had to search my spirit and decide for myself where to place my faith. I asked myself those questions hard questions “Is there an almighty Creator who has a plan and purpose for his creation or is it just by chance that all life exists? What is the reason for my existence? What is the purpose of my life? Is it just to go to school, get a good job, buy a house, start a family then die? Or is there more to life than that? What impact have I made on those around me?...” I think through asking ourselves such tough questions and searching for the answers we will all find the best place to rest our faith, much better than material things, better than science, better than ourselves, which all fail to satisfy. (Read more about my story: The Bubble)

Who is this God of Wisdom and Love?

Like I said before, He is the Source and Goal of Wisdom.

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." (Proverbs 9:10)

...After I answered those questions for myself, this is the reason why I am still a Christian (follower of Jesus). Because He is the Source and Goal of Truth. Truth is a person. So to seek Truth is to be in a relationship with the Truth (God). That's why without a shadow of a doubt, I know. It's one thing to know of someone (facts about someone) and it's another to actually have a relationship with someone. Truth is known personally. God is personal but He is not private. The goal of Truth is not individualistic, it is relational, communal. God and ourselves and others.

Who is this Jesus Christ?

"Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." (1 Corithians 1: 24a-25)

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

What's His purpose?

"No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known." (John 1:18)

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)

-> Immanuel means God with us. God the Father sent Jesus (means Savior) to make Himself known to us (the source and goal of knowledge). He became flesh and dwelled among us so that we can relate with Him. He came to fill the gap and in doing so He came to overcome the enslaving systems we had bought into, He came to set us free from this world that has messed us up and that we have contributed to the mess as well. Freedom isn't free. He paid the price (He died on a cross) so that we can have freedom and He also rose from the grave (defeated death). To know Him as we are known.

So now the choice is ours. Will we accept this freedom or not? Will we seek this Wisdom, this Truth, this Jesus, this God? And when we find Him will we allow Him to transform us, to love us? That's what His love does. Will we then allow this transforming love to spread through us to others?

The choice is yours.

Blessed are those who find wisdom,

those who gain understanding,

for she is more profitable than silver

and yields better returns than gold.

She is more precious than rubies;

nothing you desire can compare with her.

Long life is in her right hand;

in her left hand are riches and honor.

Her ways are pleasant ways,

and all her paths are peace.

She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;

those who hold her fast will be blessed.

(Proverbs 3: 13-18)

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." - Jesus :) (Matthew 7:7)

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." -Jesus :) (Revelation 3:20)

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." -God :) (Jeremiah 29:13)

Seek the LORD while he may be found;

call on him while he is near.

Let the wicked forsake their ways

and the unrighteous their thoughts.

Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,

and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the LORD.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

(Isaiah 55:6-9)

So that's the conclusion. ALL WE NEED IS LOVE. Take it from this professor, he used to be atheist before he died but he came back to life and shared his encounter. Check it out.

____________________________________________

(This was the last main course of the series but I'll have more "side dishes" in the future based on the information I've shared so far)

Feel free to share comments or questions =)

Taste Surrender, See Freedom =)

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him." (Psalm 34:8)

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior...for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. " :-)

(Mary's Song in Luke 1)

Thank you God for all that you have done for me so far! You're so great! And I don't even deserve it. You're so gracious! And I'm excited for what you're yet to do! (for there is much to be done)

Yesterday at church, the sermon was entitled, "A Mary Christmas" and it was based on Luke 1. Just want to share my thoughts about that passage. Mary sung a song ( Luke 1:46-55) after the Angel gave her the news that she would supernaturally conceive and give birth to Jesus. At first she was astonished at the news, she was "greatly troubled at his words." “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” (vs. 34)

Many times, things seem impossible: how will this person/situation ever change? I've had this habit/problem/struggle for so long, how can I ever be free? How can I overcome this? How will I be set free? How will I get close with God (again or for the first time)? It makes no sense at all. Let's be logical, it seems impossible.

I have some good news for us! It's not up to us.

When Mary asked the angel, "How will this be" she was focused on her limitations, "since I am a virgin."

But the angel shifted her focus off herself by saying, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you... For nothing is impossible with God."

GOOD NEWS!

It's not about us! Freedom doesn't hinge upon our own strength or lack of it.

It's about God. How He works in us through His Holy Spirit. It's about His Power to set free, to heal, to restore, to do the impossible.

So all we have to do is surrender to His Power. Like Mary did: (she humbled herself )

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”

Let's imitate Mary, let us humble ourselves before Him. Let's admit defeat. We are not all-powerful. He is. Let's let Him fight our battles for us. He is able!

Then she sung a song to praise God even before He did what He said He was going to do. I think we should do the same. Learn to rest. To have faith. To be pregnant with hope for what God is going to do. To be confident that He will fulfill His Word to us even when we don't see it at the present moment. Let's praise Him where we're at, He surely won't leave us here.

"Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s." (2 Chronicles 20: 15b)

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength"

(Isaiah 30:15a)

"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:14)

Let go and Let God.

"Remedy" by Dominic Balli: http://youtu.be/RBkVmQZRhEs

(Look up the lyrics if you can't hear them. So powerful! )

• 
  

Prayer:

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." (Ephesians 3:14-17a)
___________________________________________________________________________

LOVE ME :)

Hey everyone =) Just wanna share this:

"When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15)

I think Jesus is asking us the same thing. "Do you love me more than_______?:

Like the song let's ask Him to 
♫ Come make war on every other lover... ♫

And Read 1 John =) Be blessed! Let's remember God is with us as we do our papers, midterms and prepare for finals. All the best! =) (Message I shared with InterVarsity on Nov. 17, 2011)

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22: 37-40)

_________________________________________________________________________

♫ What does love look like? is the question I've been pondering ♫

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” - Jesus ♥ John 13: 34-35 ♥ 

2/13/2013 -> In the Journey post God was encouraging me that I'm on my way home. Yes I've encountered many obstacles and setbacks but nothing is wasted. He was showing me what was in the way of me being myself, what was in the way of me loving others. I learnt a lot and He's been renewing my mind. I already mentioned some of the obstacles that I identified but through my experiences over the break and coming into this quarter God showed me another one that I hadn't noticed and I think this just might be the last one: I really care about unity so I want to see reconciliation so I try to get everyone on the same page. I try to get everyone together to reconcile through waiting on God, fighting for each other using spiritual weapons such as prayer and worship. Which is also what God wants to happen and what He had told me to share. But then nothing happens then I feel the burden to try to make people understand why that is the solution so we can all apply it together. And I wait for that to happen because I know things will be easier after that. Things will flow. People will finally understand what I'm saying and I'll be accepted. Everyone will care about each other more and love each other deeper. So I wait for that to happen.

LOVE LIKE JESUS DID. LOVE INDIVIDUALS. LOVE ALWAYS.

So God was showing me where my approach was wrong. Yes He had told me to share the solution, the shortcut to unity and reconciliation. But He was telling me that it wasn't my burden to carry. I felt obliged to carry it since I care for unity but it's not my job to make everyone understand. He told me to stop defending myself since it's His battle not mine. His Word not mine. What He revealed to me about myself really pierced my heart. He showed me that I was waiting for things to get easier so that I could love people. I was waiting for the right conditions or permission to be myself. I was waiting to feel welcome and accepted for me to give my heart away to people. And He showed me that's not real love. I want to love people but at the same time I don't want to inconvenience them by initiating if they don't seem to want me/ need me in their lives. But He showed me that it was self-defensive and to love I need to die to myself. I need to love like Jesus did. To love in the face of rejection/ not being included, opposition, apathy, being misunderstood, being unknown, being different. I just need to love always. He told me stop worrying about what people think about me because He sees my heart. So just to follow His lead and give His love away. I thought I had to get everyone on the same page so we can all apply stuff together so I tried and failed and kept trying and kept failing. But He just told me to keep it simple and love my friends. To love my neighbor. Yes unity is great and it's gonna happen eventually but everything needs to start at home, at the individual level. To love and treasure everyone He has placed in my lives right where they're at and right where I'm at without waiting for some change to happen first. That was really freeing for me to hear! I don't need to wait anymore. I don't need to fight anymore. I am free to be me and free to love others! Thank you Lord for your great mercy for me and for renewing my mind with Your Love and Truth! =) I Believe in the miracle of Love =D I'm excited to apply this! Leaving the past behind since God makes all things NEW! :D

__________________________________________________________________________

♫ You must love Me with arms wide open, a heart exposed, sometimes bleeding ♫
Update: 4/3/13

So at the beginning of Winter quarter God told me this: "Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (John 12:24)

And now, after my last quarter at UCSB, I am still a single seed :( ...I should have let my emotions get in the way... Vulnerability will be the death of me. It will be the start of new life.... Listen to the arms wide open song again.... More details to come. 

NO SHAME!

One reason we suffer is because God is pruning us (the Greek word used for "prune" also means "to clean") (John 15). He is leading us to a place of deeper trust in Him, meaning there's no room for idols (anything else that we put our trust in that's not Him).

Read Psalm 16.

He wants us to surrender. He is leading us to rest =)

At the same time, He wants us not to be ashamed of our struggles. He wants us to stop feeling ashamed for how we struggle and fail to let go of our idols, how we fail to surrender, how we fail to trust Him. We are human, we are weak.

He is saying: there's no shame, no shame, no condemnation. He wants to help us surrender. So don't strive to surrender, you will fail. It's not about strife (your own strength), its about rest (rest in His power over sin and His ability to set us free).

(Hebrews 4:14-16) "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." ♥

We are safe in His arms so we can trust Him. Let us approach Him in confidence (not shame) and find rest in His love and grace =)

***Also, let's renew our mind with His Word (He has lots of promises for us!) coz like the Mexican Pastor said, "You defeat the enemy with the Word of God." So let's take up our sword! (Ephesians 6) =)

(Message I shared with InterVarsity on Oct. 26th, 2011)

Listen to these powerful songs:

"I Love You" by Misty Edwards:

• http://youtu.be/UHlliA_Ui2o

"One of us" by Paula Bowers:

• http://youtu.be/_g3yHc7rT34
  
  
  

Dear God, Rend the heavens!

Isaiah 64

1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,

that the mountains would tremble before you!

2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil,

come down to make your name known to your enemies

and cause the nations to quake before you!

3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,

you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.

4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived,

no eye has seen any God besides you,

who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

Revival is just around the corner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Read the rest of Isaiah 64. Jesus is coming soon and "the day the Lord acts" is even sooner!!! (details to come. Be at peace, there's safety under His wings :)

Lord I pray that you revive our hearts.

That the knowledge of Your Glory may fill the earth!

Come awaken us so that we prepare the way for You.

TRUST God, not yourself and He wants it ALL

♥ Proverbs 3:5-6 ♥

"TRUST in the Lord with ALL your heart,

Lean NOT on your own understanding;

Acknowledge Him in ALL your ways And He shall direct your paths."

He wants our ALL-> ALL as in EVERYTHING!!!

Isaiah 55 is not just an invitation for unbelievers, its for us as well. He is telling us, "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare."He is telling us to TRUST HIM WITH ALL OUR HEARTS.

Let's be thirsty for the Holy Spirit to take rest in every area of our lives, our ALL.

(Message I shared with InterVarsity on Oct. 12th 2011)