The Down Side

dated 30 August 2008, 1:13pm (Pacific SA Std GMT-4hour)

This is a sad and low time for me and I need to be praying
more but I need to run around doing errands and stuff because we’re moving. So,
I leave everything in God’s hands. Or, I just pray when I get a minute or two
of quiet and rest. And thank God, I still do feel His presence, sometimes.

.. ..

A pastor friend asked for prayer for a church member of his
who had a freak road accident and who was in coma. Three or four days later I
got another sms from him saying the person concerned already died. He left
behind a widow and five grown kids. He was a bus driver.

.. ..A minister friend is having marital problems and had stepped
down from ministry and church leadership for a season, for healing, counseling,
prayer and hopefully, reconciliation with his wife. His father asked for
continued prayer. I do pray for him. I believe Jesus is constantly in the
business of healing and restoring people, relationships, ministries and
marriages. And nobody is perfect, for as long as we are in this world and in
the flesh. Nobody is immune to temptations and mistakes. That’s the very reason
why we need God in the center of our lives.

.. ..

I have a very young, precious and beautiful niece who’s
battling stage three cancer. My prayer is that she would know Jesus. So that
whatever the outcome of her battle may be, she would have peace, knowing that
she is in Jesus’ presence and she would have the assurance that Jesus would
receive her in His arms, in the next life, JUST in case. For life without
really knowing the love of the Savior is bad enough in this life, and
infinitely worse in the other world.

.. ..My daughter has a friend who’s just her age and had just
passed away due to cancer. She has other friends who have friends their age who
are battling cancer. I do believe that the end-time plagues mentioned in the
book of Revelations (last book in the Bible) are cancer, heart disease and
diabetes – the major three killers of this age. These plagues are no respecter
of age, status in society, gender, nationality or geographical location. It’s a
dying world but we refuse to see it. There is only one true Life and that Life
is in the Son of God, Jesus. There is only one true Life-Giver, God the Father.
I am not saying that all who put their faith in

Jesus would be physically
healed. What I am saying is, there is an evil worse than death and if we read
the word of God (the Bible) and receive the Promises of God in there, we are on
the right track to finding Life, not only for possible physical healing but for
spiritual Life that brings healing not only to the spirit, but to the body and soul
as well. Sometimes, knowing the answers to our questions brings us peace and it
makes a whole world of difference. I have found answers in the Bible, and still
keep finding more in there.

.. ..

No, life isn’t rosy. But I thank God I have Jesus. He is
Hope.

What Easter Means to Me This Year

dated 7 April 2007

The Day Lily is a symbol of Easter for some cultures as it connotes new life and freshness.

What Easter Means to Me This Year

Easter is not really about Easter Bunnies or Easter Egg Hunting. I can divert into the topic on how those became associated to Easter, but I don't wish to do that now.

Easter is actually the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus i.e. His rising from the dead. Second only to Christmas, Easter is the most celebrated of all Christian holidays. Modern Christians now call it Resurrection Sunday in an attempt to dissociate it from the kind-of-adulterated practice called Easter.

In actual fact, the resurrection of Jesus remembered at Easter, is the most important event for a Christian. It is because of the resurrection of Jesus that there is Christianity. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, Christians would still be in their sin (unforgiven, unsaved, uncleansed – translated as, can't go to heaven). In the act of rising from the dead Jesus demonstrated for all time that He conquered sin and death and that the sacrifice of his life on the cross is efficacious and sufficient for the forgiveness of every repentant sinner. His rising from the dead also sets him apart from all the other prophets who have ever taught religion, any religion. The resurrection of Jesus sets Christianity apart from all other religions. Also, the resurrection of Jesus speaks of a new life for every repentant sinner. For as Jesus rose from the dead, the repentant sinner, who chooses to believe in Jesus and His resurrection, is also raised to a new life. What a wonderful truth!

It is the hope of the resurrection that gives me hope to go on hoping for the best, for myself, for my family, friends and loved ones. If God can raise people from the dead, and He does, I can certainly believe that any seemingly hopeless situation - an errant child, failing health, failing relationships, failing grades, even dreary jobs, etc. - can be changed by God into something good, joyful, even successful. The possibilities are endless! Now you know why I love Jesus so much!

Cheers and happy Easter to those who celebrate it!

Images from http://www.biochem.szote.u-szeged.hu
http://thefuntimesguide.com/images/
http://www.janbrett.com/images/
http://humormatters.com/

My Hope

"Sunday Morning" dated 29 March 2009

Despite the discouraging circumstances I seem to be in, I am thankful to God that my hope is in Him. Things may not turn out as I expect and want them to, but I know that the One who is in control of my lot is He who is righteous and just. According to His righteousness and justice things may not be how I think things should be; and they may be long in coming, as per my perspective, but I am at peace, knowing that He is righteous and just and in control.

Isaiah11:3,4
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

Rose pic, another one from the rose nursery near our home. Rose var. Hot Chocolate