Something to say.

Whenever I think about reaching out to people about the gospel, I'm always afraid of the questions they may ask. Questions like, "Aren't all religions the same?", "You still so fat, not rich, still sick, etc...even though you say that your God helps and blesses you abundantly. How come?" and many others. Of all the questions, I have one question in my mind that literally leaves me stressed, crying to God for an answer. This question is "What has God done for you in your life?". Perhaps many Christians can truly say that they have experienced many miracles and they have been part of miracles in other people's lives. I have too! I could answer a prebeliever that I'm still living, my parents are still alive too, my family is not rich but we have happiness...etc. But! My prebeliever friend will say, "Me too! And I don't worship your God.". What I mean is that, what I have to me are indeed blessings, but my friend will say that what I have is what she has and furthermore, she does not worship my God. Thus my so-called blessings are nothing to her. I believe you readers understand this, if not, try to understand this. I admit that I've been somewhat depressed today. The next two Fridays I'll be evangelising with the Youth from my Church in or outside a shopping mall. We will be meeting all sorts of people who will probably ask us lots of skeptical questions, most of which I can only depend on God to answer from my heart. And no, I'm never going to commit suicide. I read the Bible this late afternoon, literally crying to God for a sharp answer. I really cannot tell if the Holy Spirit is in me or not.

Some people have it even though they cannot speak in tongues. There are also Churches who disapprove or don't seek for this gift. Some prebelievers get scared when they see Christians speaking in tongues, thinking that the latter are possessed. But I can tell you that being able to speak in tongues is a joy to me if I can one day! This means that there truly is a Holy spirit in me! Tongues are languages which you have probably never heard of. Christians have no idea what language they are speaking, but they know that they are praising God. Other people can also interpret what the other Christian is saying and tells, especially to the prebelievers in Church, what God is saying through the other Christian. Speaking in tongues is a witness to prebelievers. The first time I wanted to speak in tongues was mostly because I thought it was cool and I could show off to my friends. Perhaps it was why God didn't give this gift to me even till now. He doesn't want me to misuse it. Right now, I shall wait patiently and eagerly (I don't think impatient=eager btw.) for Him to fill me with the Holy spirit! Again, it is nothing wrong if even at my last breath, I can't speak in tongues. I won't be filled with bitterness. If you remember the thief who was crucified along with Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and saviour, he hadn't got the time to speak in tongues and yet, he will be with the Lord. Anyway, you can praise God with any language!

So as I was saying before getting sidetracked, as I don't know if the Holy Spirit is in me or not, I don't know if I got an answer from God. But this is what I'll add to what I'll always say if anybody ever asks me this question, "Because of Him, I'm able to see all these as blessings. Because of Him, I'm able to see that I'm blessed with many things. Even though I don't have a nice figure and I'm not rich, I can still feel absolutely blessed because I can live without these things as I have Him who gives me what I really need. With God, you can feel that everything is fair in the world. Even if I'm to be killed by someone who gets away with the crime, I shall be glad that it could be a chance for him to turn himself in and get a lighter sentence, or at least have another chance to know God before turning himself in. I mean, look, anything can happen! And if I have a bad habit which is hard to get rid of, I believe that it is a blessing in disguise. This is like a test or some procedure which makes me grow stronger in my Faith in God. And when I can finally get rid of my bad habit, the happiness is beyond comprehension. Hope you know what I mean!"

Another thing is, I didn't know there are people who think that religions are meant for only weak people. You know what I think? Even if you are a very strong person, my take is that you will be an even stronger person with Jesus as not even the strongest person's perfect and without worry. Everyone was born naked and weak. We all need a God to depend on. Other religions btw. say that one cannot touch their God or Gods and goddesses as they are sacred and we are impure. True, we are sinners, not perfect and unclean. But my God cleanses our sins with His very own blood. He also wants a Father-child relationship with us. He is unlike other Gods. That's our God! Those who don't believe that there's a God, please ask yourselves how you were created and think if it is weird that you are created without a purpose in life and even after life. Hope you can see what I mean!

I surrender.

I surrender

Waiting my heart open
Hands raised to You
Longing for Your touch
To come make me new

My life I lay down
My heart and my soul
Lord I surrender
I give You my all

Every part of my life Lord
Is Yours and Yours alone
Every beat of my heart
God is Yours

I surrender to You
I surrender to You
I lay my life at your feet
I surrender to You

My life I lay down
My heart and my soul
Lord I surrender
I give You my control

God I give You every part of me
Take my everything it's You that I seek
All I want is to be where You are
I'm Yours

The Anthem.

The Anthem

Hal-le-lu-jah!
You have won the victory.
Hal-le-lu-jah!
You have won it all for me.
Death could not hold you down
You are the risen king
Seated in Majesty
You are the risen king

Rain Down.

Rain Down

I am falling to my knees

I need You Lord to breathe in me

My prayer is still the same

My heart is calling out Your name

Sweet anointing fill this place

I am found in Your embrace

Rain down on me

Rain down on me

Here in Your presence I am free

Pour down like rain

Come and touch me again

Lord let Your presence fall on me

I'm longing just to see

Your power and Your majesty

Sweet anointing fill this place

I am found in Your embrace

Sweet anointing

Wash me over

Sweet anointing

Wash me over

He's always here to watch out for us.

Lost.

Luke 19: 10
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

Have you ever felt lost? Have you lost something? Do you even know if you've lost something? It may not be something to even touch or listen to. There are times when people who have felt they have lost their purpose in life.

What can be lost?

• Yourself.

Psalms 119: 176

"I have strayed like a lost sheep..."

There are times when one feels as though he has lost the ability to, for example, do well in a certain aspect of life which is important to him. Perhaps one has focused more on other things which affect his life in a different way to the extent that he feels lost and helpless when situations gets real tough. We can be doing something unnecessary instead of focusing on the more important aspects of our lives.

• Your life.

Matt 10: 39

"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

If we take total control of our lives by doing what we please and not letting God take control of our lives, we will end up losing them. This is extremely obvious.

• Your soul.

Luke 9: 25

"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"

I don't suppose everyone will go to the extent of wanting to control the whole world like some evil scientist... but most of us do want to do well in something, for example, getting promoted every year or so, get the latest _____, gain popularity with ________, and so on! I mean, I admit I want a Nobel prize...haha! The thing is, it's not wrong to want all these things, but do we focus on all these types of goals we set for ourselves based on reasons and motives we ought not to have? Do you see the point of earning so much $$ and buying lots of luxury goods when you know you can't bring them up to heaven or even down to hell? Should we not focus on God and keep growing His Kingdom? Should we lead self-centred lives, thinking about what to eat and buy next?

Luke 12: 28-31

"If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows you need them. But seek his kingdom and these things will be given to you as well."

• Your reward.

2 John 8

"Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully."

Don't get distracted by other things which hinder you from running towards God! You may hate your boss, your colleagues, your work, but you still do the work on time and no doubt, you still get your pay. But God's different. He sees our hearts. Sometimes we may work towards a goal but we don't have the passion in our hearts or we simply just want the reward only, we don't get the reward.

• Heart. Courage.

2 Samuel 4: 1

"When Ish-Bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel became alarmed."

2 Cor 4: 1

"Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart."

Psalms 27: 13

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."

God is there for us! All that we are facing, trials and tribulation, He knows them all! Seek him and you will not lose heart for He will carry you through your troubles.

• Hope.

Ezek 37: 11

"Then, he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' "

Where do we put our hope in? Your family? Your job? Your ipod? Place it only in God!

• Effectiveness.

Luke 14: 34

"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?"

• Passion.

Rev 3: 15-16

"I know your deeds, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm- neither hot nor cold- I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

Sometimes, just by not reading the word and not praying daily, we can lose our Passion in God. When we also focus too much on other things which keeps us away from communicating with God, we lose our Passion, our Effectiveness in our walk with God, our Hope that we should anchor in God, etc. We become apathetic which is not a cool thing by the way.

• Purity.

Psalms 51: 10

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

We do get tempted by many "you know", be it smoking, premarital sex, affairs, drinking too much, etc. And when we ever fall, be sure to pull God's hand to stand up again and don't fall into the same pit!

• Faith.

1Tim 1: 19

"holding on to faith and a good conscience."

The thief:

His purpose is to take from you. He steals, kills and destroys. He will look for any opportunity.

1 Peter 5: 8

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

Things can be lost when you focus too much on unnecessary things. Duh.

The Shepherd:

Comes to give life.

• Protects.

Mal 3: 11

"I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,"

• Restores.

Hosea 6: 11

"Also for you, Judah, a harvest is appointed."

Psalms 23: 1-3

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake."

Psalms 41: 3

"The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness."

Psalms 51: 12

"Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."

Luke 19: 10

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

Zech 9: 12

"Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.

We may sometimes feel like we have turned our backs on Jesus but He is always here to restore us! He is the restorer of all lost things! If you are jeopardising your life for your pursuits in the world, know that God can restore your life! Jesus gave His life on the cross so that we can be restored! He's the reason we're standing. He's the greatest thing in my life! He's not mad nor angry at all the imperfect things we have done, He wants to restore you and I. God commits Himself into our lives.