Tuesday, December 28, 2010

28-12-10 (Tuesday) “For readers above 18 yrs old only”

… But who are we kidding? The more restrictions there are, the more you’re inclined to cross it, right? So even if you’re NOT 18 years old, you’re still gonna read ahead. I think this probably will be of some concern to you nowadays since we all do a lot of stuff illegally, before we hit the legal age.

This is all about SEX.

It would’ve caught your attention even without me putting in capitals, right?

I’m just gonna be saying what many people have said before me. If you haven’t heard it before, I hope you ponder over it and decide its truth for yourself. If you have heard it, I hope this serves as a reminder to you.

I believe sex was made BY God. Therefore, sex was made to be good.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it… ~ Genesis 1:28

God made it for the main purpose of reproduction. Sex was for the making of babies, of families. The problem now is that the purpose of sex has been warped. Sex has become a form of… recreation, (forgive me if this offends you but this is what it is now in my opinion.) a favourite pastime for some, if you will.

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. ~ Genesis 2:24

I believe that God made that statement regarding ALL aspects. In becoming “one flesh”, these two individuals are united physically through sex, their emotional bond is strengthened and their mental and spiritual beings are merged through marriage over time. This is where 2 Cor 6:14 comes into play but that’s for another whole entry. I think that the good feeling from sex was made by God so that two individuals would have something that strengthens their emotional bond in marriage. They would share intimacy between them. That is why a physical affair outside of marriage hurts so much. Its like your best friend shares a secret with you (that ONLY YOU get to know) and you go on  to tell another person about. (That is quite an understatement but its the closest I can think of.)

It saddens me to see how sex is portrayed by the media nowadays:

Myth 1: Sex is just part and parcel of dating/seeing someone. (“seeing someone” at more than the common level then, eh?)

Myth 2: Getting laid becomes a measuring stick of one’s popularity/hotness/desirability/attractiveness/bla bla bla…

Myth 3: Having sex regularly OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE is ONLY healthy and good for one’s being.

The sanctity of sex is jeopardized. Sex is defiled as it is brought outside of marriage, just like how fresh meat rots away as it is brought out of the freezer. IT STINKS!!!

The thing is… This defilement comes in many forms as well.

Pornography degrades sex into becoming an audio/visual entertainment for people. The joy of sex that was meant to be shared between a man and a woman is reduced to one person’s self-absorbed stimulation without the responsibilities that come with it. It is because of our selfishness that we want to get that thrill, to satisfy our own desires without involving a second party. This selfishness extends to masturbation as well. More often than not, these 2 come hand-in-hand. The worst part of these is that it infiltrates our minds and tarnishes it just like graffiti on a white wall.

Vulgarities/Obscenities with references to sex/genitals. I dunno if you noticed but most, if not all, the vulgarities involve sex and/or genitals. The interesting thing is that we all know its not something nice to say those things. That’s why its called “FOUL language”, right? So what exactly are we doing? We’re making sex and our own genitals out to be something dirty/foul/bad. But its not! God made them, remember? So how can we say that its bad? Its only because of our sin that its corrupted!

So what CAN we do about this?

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. ~ 1 Corinthians 6:18

FLEE, the Bible says! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!! If we take on sexual temptation face-to-face, we usually end up the loser! (I dare say at least 90% of the time) Knowing people from the past and wise people living in the present happen to give the same advice from their own experience… I don’t doubt its truth!

I wish for you that you do not have to endure these disgusting things especially in this world controlled by the media. But if you do/have encounter(ed) it, remember that God is still ready to forgive you as long as you repent and there is still a way out of it! Look for someone you can trust to keep you accountable in this area as well! You CANNOT deal with it alone!!

Friday, December 24, 2010

24-12-10 (Friday) “Just The Way You Are”

Seeing that Christmas comes tomorrow, I thought I’d share something on Christmas together with my thoughts on this song that has been playing over and over in my head recently. Pretty sure it has been ‘bugging’ some of you as well…

Bruno Mars – Just The Way You Are

Some ladies would LOVE to have a guy sing this song to them and mean it. I believe some guys would like the same idea being said about them. The cool thing is that there IS One who would sing such words to us if we would listen! God has already shown His unconditional and impartial love to us despite us taking it for granted! I’ll try to back up my points with some verses below.

Oh, her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like they're not shining
Her hair, her hair, falls perfectly without her trying
She's so beautiful, and I tell her every day

God … also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth… And God saw that it was good.

~ Genesis 1:16-18

Then God … created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

~ Genesis 1:26-31

What are the stars compared to what He had made in us? Even though we marvel at their beauty in the skies, its pretty crazy to think that God thinks they were just “good” while we were “VERY good”.

Yeah, I know, I know, when I compliment her she won't believe me
And it's so, it's so, sad to think that she don't see what I see
But every time she asks me do I look ok, I say

… “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

~ 1 Samuel 16:7

Isn’t it quite true that many of us can’t really TRULY accept the compliments that people tell us? We doubt the authenticity of their remarks. EVEN MORE when its coming from God and He gives us far greater compliments, expecting us to do so many things, to face so many situations that we do not consider ourselves capable of. And that we don’t see what God sees in us… I don’t think that even needs any explanation.

When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change
Cause you're amazing, just the way you are
And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while
Because girl you're amazing, just the way you are

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

~ Psalm 139:13-14

God made us just the way we are. He did not forget to extend your foot by an extra cm. He did not lose His balance and end up spilling some ink over your body. He did not get drowsy and accidentally knock you on the head, making your growth stunted. He made no mistakes. He wouldn’t even consider reversing any bit of that creation.

Her lips, her lips, I could kiss them all day if she’d let me
Her laugh, her laugh, she hates but I think it's so sexy
She's so beautiful, and I tell her every day

I can’t really find anything for this bit but…

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

~ Proverbs 17:22

So… Laugh more. Open-mouthed smile

Oh, you know, you know, you know, I'd never ask you to change
If perfect's what you're searching for then just stay the same
So, don't even bother asking if you look ok
You know I'll say

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

~ 2 Corinthians 5:21

There’s not much we CAN do to become perfect, cos’ we’re already tainted with sin. But God sent Jesus to die on behalf of our sins so that we become righteous THROUGH Him! We’re still called to do good but its only because of Jesus that we’re made perfect! Nothing else!...

… And that’s the whole purpose of Christmas! To celebrate the birth of Jesus that allowed us to go back to God!!!

So the next time you hear this song, remember that it is being sung over you as well! I hope you enjoyed. :) Merry Christmas to you!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

23-12-10 (Thursday) “Forget Not”

Devotion this morning challenged me. I’m gonna address Christian readers first before the non-Christians. Read up Deuteronomy 8.

When the days go well, when our finance is stable, our results come out better than expected, our relationship with others are smooth-sailing, we just got our promotion… “We become proud and convinced that our goods and great success came about by our ‘own strength and energy.’(vv 14, 17). Its a subtle change that happens as we leave humility(caused by humble circumstances) and embrace arrogance and self-reliance(prompted by prosperity).”1IMG_8627If things don’t go our way, “thank God for this ‘wilderness’ that can cause you to seek and depend on Him. Although we sometimes forget His face, He never forgets ours.” All circumstances are useful to draw us closer to God, if we choose to do so. God deserves our thanks every single day. Its the least we can do.IMG_8773If you DON’T believe in God, at least remember the people that have been behind your getting to where you are now. Thank your parents, your siblings, your friends, extended family members, teachers and mentors. If you’re not used to verbalizing it, thank them silently in your heart first. Do it over and over, maybe write a card to them and then decide to say it out someday. In the bad times, remember the ones who have been through your bad times together and stayed on despite all odds.IMG_8767

“But remember the LORD your God,

for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth,

and so confirms his covenant,

which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”

~ Deuteronomy 8:18

 1 “forgetting faces” – Tom Felten, Thursday December 23, Our Daily Journey

Saturday, December 11, 2010

11-12-10 (Saturday) “Gratitude: Journey Mercy”

The media constantly has some breaking news of some train’s head-on collision or derailing, plane engines bursting, multi-vehicle carnage on some highway or a sinking of a certain ship splat across its front/main page. Finding such news is as easy as calculating the probability of it raining in a span of 24 hours here at this time of the year(100%).

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I’ve been looking back on all the trips I’ve made over the past decade. There have been many. Way beyond what I would’ve imagined at the start of the decade. I used to take all these trips for granted. Now, I actually imagine the worst case scenario for most of the trips that I make as I embark on it. Coming out of it unscathed at the end of the journey makes me grateful for just that – that I came out unscathed. I’ve been through several incidents where I was SO close to becoming the next day’s headline.

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This applies ESPECIALLY for the short, 2-minute trips to somewhere closeby. These trips are the ones that lead to saddest accidents.

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Don’t take your safe trips for granted.

Thursday, December 02, 2010

09-12-10 (Thursday) “Boundaries”

So I just got back from a trip including a mission trip and visits to my grandparents’ place. I’ve learnt and thought about a lot throughout this trip.

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I realize how the people in Rumah Tatom are quite… Pristine, if I may use the word. Reminds me a bit of the movie “Avatar”. They are not bothered by keeping up with the latest iPhone, they need not have a laptop with the latest Intel processor technology, they need not eat like kings as much as possible(although the wild boar must be quite a treat. I wish I could testify but it wasn’t a festive season so they had no reason to slaughter boars. “Praise God!”, say the animal activists and vegetarians. Open-mouthed smile )

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I also think about how they’re kinda missing out on the comforts offered by air-conditioners, flushing toilets, freezers(ICE!!!), automatic toothbrushes, automatic can openers, automatic dishwashers, automatic butt-wipers and whatever else that we have managed to automate so far.IMG_8141I believe this is where they collect rainwater. For use in brushing their teeth and drinking.

Frankly, I don’t know whether to feel sorry for them that they’re missing out on so much goodies that can make their lives so much more comfortable… Or for us that we’re all so tied down to this world with so many things that make our lives comfortable that we don’t wanna let go of this pursuit for more nor let go of what we have. Without the distractions of having to provide every means of “home-improvement” for their families, the people have an AMAZING sense of community. I’m pretty sure THEY got it right when the focus is more on the PEOPLE rather than the SATISFACTION of people.

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I think that the only gift we DO bear to people in missions like this is the Gospel. Everything else is THEIR gift to us. The gift of hospitality, the lessons on generosity, the warmth of community, the purity of seclusion from the snares of the world.

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“Boundaries don’t keep people out. They fence you in.”