Safety Lies

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. - Matt 24:6-8 (NIV) The “birth pains” have now become quite frequent, and we know that with more birth pains at shorter intervals, the inevitable isn’t far off. It is not meant to threaten anyone but to encourage everyone that while there still is time…make that decision and move to safe ground. “Safety is not in the absence of danger but being in the presence of the Almighty God.” For me, there’s no other safer place to be.

AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD

June 19, 2012, at exactly 3am, God woke me up and leads me to an intimate prayer with Him. Rarely do I cry out for something not related to myself. But tonight, for some crazy reason I cannot explain, that's all different. Tonight I'm crying out for those I love, my friends, because many of them are hurting right now, in very different, but very specific situations. Tonight I am actually literally crying for them. I sense the brokenness, I sense the hurt, and in some ways I feel their pain, in other ways. I do not feel their pain, but my heart breaks for them, and cries out tonight for them. Don't get me wrong, the situations are very different, in very different ways, but I hurt and I cry out for them regardless. Many are praying that God will reveal his will to them, and that's hard to understand and hard to see and hard to know, and I know this all too well because I am right there with them. My heart cries that God will intentionally and assuredly show them his will. Many of my friends are struggling with where to go in life, whether it means a certain job or certain vacation, or what relationship to pursue, and I pray that God will reveal those decisions and those paths to them and He will make it clear to them to know which way to go. So God, I can only do what I know to do, just come to you, bring my friends to you, lift them up to you, and TRUST that you have their life already planned out and full known and have for a long long time. Please make your will revealed to them, and please restore these broken relationships all around me, and heal broken hearts from death of loved ones, as you're the only one that can heal the brokeness inside us. Please help all of us know what plan you have for us and pursue it with everything within us. Because of this reason, I realized how special I am to God because He choose me to be part of His family as His princess. God leads me to His words full of compassion and love; “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:18-19a NIV) – then you’re on your way to understanding the extraordinary value of every human life, how each individual is a masterpiece created by God. WE are a masterpiece created by God. The point is, God thought you up (Jeremiah 1:5), and now he lovingly thinks of us. We are of immeasurable worth to God, and our value is not determined by our appearance or performance, or how much time or money we can contribute, or how well we sing or teach – or how long we live. The value of any container is determined by its contents, and WE are a one and only, custom-made container of Uncommon Stuff – as a believer, you contain the very life of God. Rejoice in this truth, and be set free. What does this mean? God’s love transforms – When you understand your value to God, you will be less likely to sin. His love will compel you to walk in the light. In conclusion, I am so thankful God loves me so much that He is thinking of me always. Well, after my encounter to God, I am overwhelmed and challenge to do this: If you think good things about someone, tell them. Go out of your way to fill their lives with joy while there's still time. Those expressions of appreciation, those words of forgiveness, that special gift you've had in mind, give it while you can. And lastly, Don't keep your love in a box! well, thanks for reading!

HAPPINESS

What is happiness exactly? Is it something as complex as electrical impulses from the brain or chemical reactions in the body telling you to feel good? Or is there a deeper sense of happiness? Bar none, today was a happy day for me. Well, at least compared to the way the past few weeks have been. This day was filled with small things that made me feel genuinely happy. I talked to and spent time with someone really special who made me understand why things are the way they are, I took one gigantic step forward in my new career path, I saw old friends, made new ones. All in one day. And for the first time in weeks, my heart was the one smiling. I guess that's what happiness is. Small things that touch you in a very profound manner when you least expect it. Maybe, God uses these small trinkets of joy to remind you that even when you think that layer of sadness is impenetrable, there are other things and people out there who can still break right through it. So I guess what we should remember is, anyone can be happy. He just has to allow it to happen and let God do the rest. Here's what my friend sent me a while ago which I think perfectly explains it. "Yes indeed, it won't be long now. God's decree - things are going to happen so fast, your head will swim. One thing fast on the heels of the other. You won't be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once, and everywhere you look, blessings!! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills." - Amos 9:13 Time for me to start looking around. Loving unconditionally goes against many of the social standards that we place a premium on. It is also very difficult to do because in loving unconditionally, we do not give our love in trickles, we give ALL of it, all of ourselves. Nowadays, people tend to measure the amount of love they give out and more often than not, the more they give, the more they expect in return. So how do children do it? How do they surrender their whole heart to love and easily give it back? Maybe the key is selflessness. Loving and caring for others before yourself. I know, that's hard to do because looking after your own interest becomes second nature to us in this dog eat dog society. But remember, when we fall deeply in love, and we think deep inside that the person deserves all our love, don't we effortlessly give it regardless of the repercussions? Don't we just go all the way for that person even though some people say we shouldn't because of love? That means we CAN love unconditionally. I believe that when Jesus died on the cross for us, he gave us that gift. The ability to love unconditionally. I remember asking a loved one before why she does all these things for me and she said, "Because my happiness comes from seeing you smile, hearing you laugh, and feeling your happiness." The feeling I got from hearing that is how good it is to be on the receiving end of unconditional love. A love that only the child in us can give. Let's all dig through the mess inside and find that child in us, with His help. I THINK THIS IS THE REAL HAPPINESS...SERVING GOD AND LOVING HIM FAITHFULLY. My happiness is when I dig down deep in God's word and worship Him. How about yours?