Will of God

 

 Rejoice. Pray. Give thanks. At all times.
~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Many times I find myself searching about what God wants me to do--a grand plan for my life--up to a point where I simply overlook the straightforward truth of the will of God.

Photo courtesy from Ps. Steve's Blog

Seize life!

Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,
Drink wine with a robust heart.
Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure!
Dress festively every morning.
Don’t skimp on colors and scarves.
Relish life with the spouse you love
Each and every day of your precarious life.
Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange
For the hard work of staying alive.
Make the most of each one!
Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!
This is your last and only chance at it,
For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think
In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed.

~ Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 (MSG)

Less Helpless

1 Psalm 121:1-2 say,

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
~ NIV

I look up to the mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
~ Message

There are times when I feel helpless. A helplessness that is similar to what Apostle Paul expression in Romans 7:15 (NIV) "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."

At those times, as I do what I hate to do I begin to hate myself, my situation, my limitations, and everything else. Like in the movie, Click, I want to quickly grab the remote and press the skip button.

However, at those times, God's love becomes very real, especially through the word. As I unconsciously recite Psalm 121:1-2 (see the quote earlier), I began to read it in parallel with the Message version. Do you see the red line?

The Psalmist, like me, is looking for help. I was looking for a grand rescue act. I was waiting for somebody to save me. But what does the Message version say about help? It means strength.

Strength is the answer. I never realize if I am strong I can overcome. I have always thought that I need to be rescued. Not once and not twice but all the time. I expect somebody would do all the dirty work, fight the battle, and save me, the beautiful princess whose body is trapped between snapping tree.

But today's word is saying to me that what God does is not to change situations or to send Michael, the Archangel, to come through and help me out of my problems. Instead, he changes me by giving me [enough] strength to overcome.

Drawing near to him is like filling our car's tank with enough fuel, feasting our body with healthy food, or recharging the batteries of our mobile devices with full power. 

Have Super-Powered Day, Folks!

23

Today, June 8, 2013, I am officially 23 years old. I am thankful for my family; they are the greatest. My friends; they are my inspirations. My God, Jesus Christ; without Him I am nothing.

Dear Future Raissa,

Please,
   Pray boldly
      Live fearlessly
         Love abundantly
            Learn from the ants
               Have fun more seriously
                  Be thankful a little bit more
                     Trust God completely

Sincerely,
22 years old Raissa

Clay

For those who are not satisfied with themselves and even started to doubting about self-worth. This is for you.

Clay doesn't talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, "Why did you shape me like this?" Isn't it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans? ~ Romans 9 (MSG)

Inspired by +Ribka Soesilo 

Instead

Sometimes all I need to do is to stop thinking and worrying about others and start thinking and worrying about me instead.

Iron Man's Armor

I was just chatting with my lovely boyfriend, who is now in Venice, traveling with his family and making me stay all by myself in Amsterdam (no, he did not actually make me stay, I chose to stay, red.).  The topic was today's message at church "Hope in Jesus is An Anchor to Our Soul".

Yes, if I were a sailor. 

I began with objecting the analogy. I believed that when a ship sets on its anchor, it is close to shore. If not, how could the anchor reached the bottom and hold the ship still? So, if the ship is now close to the shore, I would be jumping out of the ship and choose to live in the island. Why would I face never-ending water and occasional storms everyday? 

The truth is I am not a sailor. 

This analogy is not applicable for me. The pastor needs to think of another one. What would he say if he's actually preaching only to me?

He's going to think that in the land, I would face mystical tree creatures (see Life of Pi), opposition of the original tribes (see Ace Ventura), dinosaurs (Jurassic Park), and many other challenges.And now he really has to think what would be an equivalent replacement for anchor in the land. 

An invisible cloak? Probably. 

Superman's superpower? Yes. 

My favorite is Iron Man's Armor. 

I guess, if I could put another hope beside in God, I'd like to have an Iron Man's armor. It's going to definitely solve almost all my problems in the land. 

Anyway, I was trying to prove to my he's-going-to-be-handsome-all-his-life, that there can be a life where I can survive without my anchor (God). It was by escaping to the life in the land. But I only come to face much more troubles in the land. 

Really, there is no safe place or real hope on earth and under heaven that I can put my trust onto. Can you think of something? Let me know. 

Jesus is the sole hope for my soul!