Little Voice Big Impact

We have recently divided the youth at church into smaller groups. We would like to have intense communication between the members for the purpose of building stronger relationships. We believe a strong relationship is the key to influence. As our first homework, we wanted to write the when, where, and how we first met Jesus as our Lord and Savior. 

As I was writing mine, I was convinced that pratically I accepted Christ Jesus in my heart and confessed with my mouth that He is Lord twice in my life--those two are quite life-changing for me. One was when I was very young, elementary school grade 3, and the other one was just over 3 years ago.

Mom led me to Christ when I was young but when I was older, I felt that the Word of God really spoke to me. The message was to forbid me to rely on my own mind and strength. I need to rely on God. When I tried things on my own and did not involve God, it meant that I pushed God away from my life and I did not need God. 

Procrastination was my illness those days. I often told myself I could do it tomorrow and later tonight. It does not matter if I do it now or later. I would be able to wake up to do this or that assignment. I see now that I was boastful. Who am I to know what I could or could not do later tonight or early in the morning tomorrow. More often than not, I would turn up snoozing my alarm off and in the end skipping my prayer time just to replace it with the time spent for doing the assignment. 

I have skipped brushing my teeth at night for the last two days. Before I got into the room, in my heart, I felt strongly that I got to go my other room first to get my teeth cleansed--my tooth brush is in my other room, I sleep in the guest room now. But I told myself, "later". In the end, I ended up waking up in the morning with teeth unbrushed. Regret comes and I cannot undone it.

Procrastination is arrogance. It is trusting in our own strength rather than trusting in God. We often wonder how God speaks to us. He speaks to us through the little voices in our heart. Though it is little it requires immediate obedience from our side. The consequence of disobedience could be overwhelming for us to bear. So why don't we do the things we need to do now rather than boastingly announce that we would do it later--when we could not ensure what would happen later.

Those little voices we ignore are of the One who knows a lot about our lives and cares for us the most.

No Joy = Death

Jangan kamu bersusah hati, sebab sukacita karena Tuhan itulah perlindunganmu!”
Nehemia 8:11b TB

Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Nehemiah 8:10b NIV

Neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Nehemiah 8:10b KJV

This time I find the Indonesian translation a bit fresher than the English translation. The statement is widely used in songs. Joy equals to strength. But the Indonesian translation says joy equals shelter/cover/protection.

Losing joy makes us vulnerable to enemy's attack. It exposes our weaknesses. It undresses us from our shield. It could be very dangerous for us, moreover our soul.

I don't know, it gives joy a new meaning for me. It is so important and crucial to have joy in our lives.

Have we stayed in the corner of depression and hopelessness these days? Come on, get out of that corner, it's dark and it's dangerous. We could die if we keep staying there.

May the peace that transcends all understanding be with us all.

Angercure

No one can read mind.
Try to communicate gently.
Seek first to listen and be slow to anger.

Not everyone is our enemy.
Uncontrolled-self might be our worst enemy.
Are you good with yourself?

Anger does come from insecurity.
Why don't we say so long goodbye my insecure self?
Christ makes me new. Christ makes me whole.

Sundays

We rest on Sundays but the Devil works double hard on Sundays.

Let's keep our guard up, Guys, even on weekends!

Hey Bye

My earthly father died last August on the thirteen. He was buried on the seventeenth, right on the celebration of Indonesian independence day. Afterwards Oma Edith Yvonne, an Evangelist, came to stay with us and consoled us for our loss. She also taught us many lessons. I can't help but to write the lessons I had learned.

The first one is about Hello and Goodbye.

We were so grateful and blessed to have her around after Daddy passed away. In the morning she would sit in the living room and held her Bible. She was so ready for the Word of God. We would voluntarily came around and pray together--it was very hard in the beginning for she started it pretty early, especially for Daniel.

Anyhow, we began to get used to the morning devotion together and would regret it if we missed it. Additionally she's got plenty of fun stories and crazy comments that would make us laugh out loud and forget for a moment that we are in still in the mourning period.

Well, Daddy is fine and happy now. We know we should not be sad but we are. So, we are so thankful that God had sent us a counselor who brightened our nights.

The fun thing about her is that she always intentionally switch hellos with goodbyes. Whenever she comes into the house she would say goodbye and vice versa. It sounded strange in the beginning but it made us realize that she wouldn't stay long. Oma isn't ours. She is God's. Just like everything and everyone else in this world.

Our wealth isn't ours. It's God's and He entrusts it to us. So whenever money comes can we actually say goodbye to it if in any case God takes it all away?

Our friends are not ours.
Our parents are not ours.
Our partner is not ours. Mom had to let go of my Dad just over a month ago. When Dad was dying, Oma kept telling her that Daddy was not hers. He is dearest to God. This way it was easier for Mom to let him go.

Now and then I would say hello whenever she was going out of the house and she would smile and I would greet her goodbye when she comes into the house. Doing so I hope it will be easier for me to let Oma go if she would continue her journey to God knows where.

Well now that we know that there is always a goodbye in a hello. What do we do in between those two words?

Also, I'm gonna switch my Hello to Goodbye starting from now. Get ready to kiss me hello, guys! 'til our next goodbye, be well and eat healthy!

Durian

When I was little about 3 or 4 years old, I used to hate Durian. I did not know why I hated it, but I just did. Everytime my Dad would tell me to eat I would refuse. He, then, would scold me for it.

One day, he got very mad. I did not want to eat that expensive fruit but he kept arguing that it tastes great and I am stupid for not liking it. He forced and forced and forced me to eat and I cried, refused, refused, and refused to eat until he opened my mouth and licked me a little of that heavenly fruit.

That moment changed me.

It tastes great. That day I ate the whole fruit. And durian began to be my favorite fruit.

Last night when I was out with GUPta Youth, I shared this story and I was inspired. It can be similar to the presence of God.

Why don't we like the presence of God?

Could the presence of God be your "durian"?

If it is. I really encourage you to go try. I am 100% sure it is the best fruit in the world.

If durian is a love-hate fruit, the presence of God is a love-love fruit. You can't resist his love when you are in. And you won't regret it anyway. It is life-changing.

Small Soft Little

I recently read Benny Hinn's "Selamat Pagi Roh Kudus". He discusses his experiences with Holy Spirit. He writes that He is real. He sees, He hears,  He feels, He thinks, and He acts. He is not less than God but He is God. Benny also reminds us to worship Him no less than the Father.

As I read through the pages, I began to understand that there were a few events in my life, Holy Spirit took control of me. He revealed Himself and prompted me to do a certain thing; to glorify God. I also began to wonder why He does not talk to me in that way that frequently these days.

Yes, it maybe is caused by the fact that I have replaced my times of singing praises and praying exclusively with plenty of book reading and knowledge expansion effort. I grow tired of playing the same songs over and spent precious minutes waiting. I turn to believing that wisdom is the key.

However as it turns out, I am starting to lose the ability to recognize His voice at all. Without dismissing the importance of wisdom, I need to learn to listen to His voice again.

I never knew how. Even though I have experienced events with Holy Spirit but I cannot differentiate His with other voices. I, now, believe that He only talks from the Scripture. Rhyme will do.

But the event this morning was an eye opener for me.

Last night I slept with a small soft little voice reminding me about the alarm. I think it was not necessary to put it on so I did not put it on for mom has asked me twice about my agenda this morning. I told her that I need to be at Kids Church in the morning. She asked twice so I thought she would remember. She always does. Except this morning.

So, as you can guess, I woke up very late to make it to Church. I felt terrible and silly. Yes, I shouldn't count on my mom to wake me up, at least not again. And yes, I should have listened to that small soft little voice.

Is it really a coincidence that it happens when I just read this book?

I believe it is a sweet reminder to end the year and to start 2016 with God. God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

He knows what we need--just like He knew that I needed that alarm this morning. He is for us. We should not be repulsive to Him. He is not our enemy.

Following Him requires new habits. Just like any great changes in life, they require plenty of new ways of life. Are we up and ready for those?

I pray so. We can! For He is with us.