When We Are Ready

I learned something important today about God's love for us.

We often wonder why God takes so long to bless us. We get frustrated when we do not get things immediately. We become impatient and start to question God.

I have asked the same questions whenever I wanted something badly. I become worried and frustrated when God does not seem to answer my prayers. I remember Him telling me, "Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you," and yet it does not seem to be the case at times.

Like everybody else, I have focused so much on those words that I have forgotten a much more important point. For after those immediately come the following verses "Who among you fathers if whose son asks him for bread gives him a snake instead?" Key words: father and son. The relationship that we should have with God is like between a father and a son!

How more often than not that we treat our relationship with God with a degree of impersonality? God has become too impersonal for us that we neglect to act as obedient children should do. God, as Father only wants the best for His children, and basing from His own judgment, he knows who we are and what we are capable of.

God knows who we are! He wants to bless us so much but He also knows that sometimes we are not ready. We are not ready to face the 'consequences' and responsibilities of His gifts. He knows how much we want things badly but He also knows that our characters are not prepared to receive those blessings. How often have you heard people pray for good health but yet are not committed to exercise everyday? Or individuals who want to find a good wife and get married and yet continues to be self-involved and selfish?

But then you may say, "But I have seen people in the world who got married and continue their self-centered ways." That is true, but just the same, that person was never ready for the responsibilities and most often the marriage ends up in painful separation or divorce.

God as our Father wants to bless us. But most importantly He wants obedience from us as His true Sons/Daughters. If you find yourself praying for the same things over and over again for a very long time maybe you should stop and reflect what God wants to change in you so that you may be ready to receive those blessings and the responsibilities that come with them. He is such a wise and loving God that He knows which gifts would help you or ruin you, which ones you can manage and you can not cope up with. As His true children, we receive this loving and extra special attention from God.

So next time we pray for things, our prayer should be "God, please prepare me for all the many blessings you want to shower upon me. May I have the right heart, mindset and character to be able to face the challenges of those gifts, that I may use them for the benefit of your kingdom."

It does not matter whether you are praying for a relationship, a good career, a new car, better lifestyle or having children, our Father would want to make sure that His Sons/Daughters are in the best position to receive it.

Praise and glory to God, the Holy Spirit and our Lord Jesus Christ!

ANOTHER STORY...

I have told Raymond Wee about this story before.

I dreamt one night that some 'heavenly being' was instructing me about sharing my faith, and about the sin of commission and omission. Although I did not exactly see the 'heavenly being' I felt a wonderful curiousity and peace when 'he' was talking to me. Then before the dream abruptly ended the being mentioned the word batin. I did not know what that meant but I was sure it was some angelic language that was shared to me.

So I went and check what the word 'batin' meant. It was definitely not in the English dictionary or I would have come across it by now. What I did next is checked the internet. And to my surprise there is a word called 'batin.' Batin comes from the Arab language used in the Quran which means 'hidden.' A Batini is basically someone who devotes his time to read the Quran to decipher its hidden meaning. The fun part is not all can be Batini but only a select few!

Is it to say that I have been chosen to decipher the 'hidden meanings' of the Bible? I am not sure and I will not pretend to be. But it did inspire me to read the Bible more deeply and find God's message which most of us often do not recognize.

Let us all search God's real meaning and purpose in our lives through the Bible!

Acceptance of God's Grace through acknowledgment of sin

I got this text message from Andrew Oh.

"Something I have learned today is that a huge step to overcome our sinful nature:  we need to name our sins and claim ownership of them. If we live in denial, what we are saying is that we do not need God's grace and forgiveness."

How true  it is. The apostle Paul did say that as our transgressions increase so does the Grace of God increase in us for the forgiveness of our sins. But if we do not acknowledge the sin in us, then we are denying the power of the Grace of God. True humility involves the acceptance of our flaws, no matter how shameful they may be. For on judgment day our sins will be exposed anyway so it would be better to have confessed them now, repent and receive mercy rather then when it is too late.  

I am grateful of the Mercy and Grace that flows from God through Jesus Christ. I remember Shawn Wooten's story of the Ukrainian mother whose young daughter fell on a patch from the 9th floor of a building. She cried "God have mercy! God have mercy!" I was moved by those words. Do those words not reflect the exact same feeling we have everyday when we come across struggles in our lives? As we grow we realize how incapable we are of so many things and how many mistakes we have committed along the way. And yet, as Christians we can just call upon God's mercy and know that we will receive it. 

God knows the problems we are facing and the struggles we have to go through. Ever since Adam and Eve were sent out of Eden, man was cursed to work the ground and labor for his survival. So He sent His one and only Son to die for our sins so that Grace will be poured out freely to those who believe and have faith. 

Praise God for this salvation!