Do Not Be Mastered by Anything!

Sometimes, when something negative enters into your mind, it’s impossible to shake it off! The thoughts grip the walls of your brains, with strong resilience. If only good thoughts were that way! Instead, they are ideas that cause you hurt, confusion, distrust, and feelings of betrayal.
As a human, questions will keep boggling your mind. You will never rest until they are answered. But the thing about God is, He expects you to do the total opposite of what you would naturally do. That is not easy!

“I am not mastered by anything” – Johnny English reminded himself in the movie, when he realized that his drink was poisoned with chemicals of mind control. The drink was forcing him to do things he didn’t want to do. Yet, he fought against it, because he didn’t want to allow his mind to control him!

The hardest thing to train is NOT your disobedient pet, your stubborn child, your selfish husband or your complaining wife. Neither is it your most difficult employee.

The most difficult thing to control is YOURSELF – your thoughts, words, emotions and feelings.

We are controlled by the ideas the world puts into our mind. It keeps us in bondage, it robs our joy, it wastes our time– it diverts our focus off Christ!

But God tells us to be joined with Him in Spirit, to fight the strategies of the evil one!
How does God teach us to do it?

1) Prayer
2) Fasting
3) Praise
4) Meditating on the Word

Prayer is not easy when your mind is troubled. You have a million things to say to God, but at the end of the day, you just sit and wonder whether everything you heard is true. But that’s exactly why prayer is so important! When you tell it to God, you let it off your chest! You give Him the problems and TRUST Him to take full control. If people are out to cheat you, God knows how to ‘revenge’ – you don’t have to crack your head on what to do! ‘Vengeance is Mine,’ says the Lord. If people are lying to you, God knows how to arrange circumstances to show you the truth! If someone is taking advantage of you, God knows how to get them out of your life. If God has a mission for you to send a message to change them, He knows how to use you! Live for Christ, and tell Him everything in prayer! Just trust Him!

Fasting – this is a tough one for me! I am a small eater, and that’s exactly why it’s so difficult. Since I eat little, when I don’t eat, I lose weight drastically. But then again, fasting doesn’t have to be only from food. I can fast from other things (but even that is hard). I hardly do anything ‘bad’ or extremely pleasurable, to fast from. Now, the only thing I can think of to fast from, is telephone calls! I make a lot of calls because I am alone and need human contact. I’ll try fasting from this! The idea of fasting is to deny yourself of something you really like or want, and replace it with God (reading His word, singing His praises, thinking of Him etc.) It’s a form of detox! (When you fast from food, you cleanse both your body and mind – but I’m not up to this yet, at the moment.) The most important thing about fasting – it trains you not to be mastered by your desires, habits, emotions, feelings and thoughts! It forces you to go against the norm, with the power of God.

Praise – man, this is not simple when your heart is a tempest! Having to sing, “Rejoice in the Lord always!” when you’re feeling really down is not easy. But this is exactly what God wants us to do! After you praise, you will find your burdens lifted away – it’s true! When I am alone in my room, sometimes my concentration fails me to praise God with 100% positive attitude, but I always make it a point to go to church. There, the drum beats, electric guitar and piano just sets me into the mood, and the presence of all the other people of God stirs me on. I always go back feeling full of joy from the Lord –like a recharged battery! Waiting for church on Sunday, while I discipline myself to sing praises with my guitar, and in my heart the whole day! The evil one will distract, but praising God is the most beautiful thing that can happen to you, once you start!

Meditating on God’s Word – this is a little easier for me, since I like to read, and write. I have no problems reading the Bible, in the morning and night, and on the internet. Yet, thinking of it the whole day, to fight the evil thoughts, is a real challenge. People’s words, unpleasant memories and situations tend to push their way into my head, like a virus fighting the antibiotics. Still, God’s Word, plans and purposes will prevail!

Do not be mastered by anything, except God!

I Corinthians 6:12

"Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything.

Psalm 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

ETERNITY IN YOUR HEART

Why do married men have affairs?

Why do single men cheat around?

Why do men have great sex with their partners for years, yet never get married?

Why are women willing to freely give their bodies away?

Why are couples not willing to commit to marriage?

Why do people indulge in pornography?

Why do people consume alcohol to their hearts' fill?

Why do teens take drugs to forget their problems?

Why do people smoke to release tension?

Why do people work so hard for money like it’s the only thing that matters in the world?

Why do some appear to be ‘religious’ and but spend their whole life in sin?

Why do people get addicted to sports but neglect God?

The ‘why’s’ can go on and on, but the answer is simple. It’s because they are searching for happiness and satisfaction!

They think they will find it in an invigorating sexual affair, the erotic scenes of a blue movie, the intoxicating drinks or the mind relaxing chemicals. They assume they need to give sex to keep their man / woman. They feel they need to drink to conform to peer pressure. They work so hard to collect expensive accessories to show off and cover their insecurities. They do something ‘religious’ to convince themselves that there is some goodness in them. They work their muscles and release their frustrations to avoid sharing with God.

Yet, they never find what they are looking for.

Then, what is the true key to happiness and satisfaction?

The answer is GOD!

I realize that he has planted eternity in human heart. There is a hole in our heart that ONLY God can fill. God made us that way!

It’s a LOVE that gives you joy no matter what happens. Even if your wallet is empty, or you partner leaves you – GOD keeps you strong, and you will never need to compromise your values. You will never need to indulge in a sexual affair, take drugs, alcohol or smoke just to find happiness & fulfillment. God will arrange your priorities and pick you up even when the world smashes you down, and brings you to your knees!

Humans will lie to you, sexual feelings will fade, the stimulating scenes of porn movies are as fleeting as a screensaver, and alcohol leads you to foolish senses. The smoke of a cigarette damages your lungs and drugs ruin you. Work keeps you busy to forget your problems for the moment. Money can buy you many things, but you cannot deny your lack of fulfillment within.

People go to all the wrong places to find that happiness because they cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.

Just let go of your ego. Stop pretending to be proud of all your sins. Deep down in your heart, you know that what you did was wrong. You were never fully satisfied.

Just leave it down at the feet of Jesus. He forgives you. He sacrificed his life for you! JESUS LOVES YOU!

Fill the eternity in your heart. Receive the LOVE!

Ecclesiastes 3:11
Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.

1 Peter 5-6
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.

I John 4:8
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Who to Trust?

I found Johnny English extremely charming in the action-packed movie ‘Johnny English Reborn’. Played by Rowan Atkinson, more glamorized as Mr. Bean, Johny English was an extremely fascinating character – hilarious, witty and intriguing at the same time. There was a side to him that you’ll never see in Mr. Bean; the brilliance and fearlessness of a secret agent in a completely unexpected and comical way. I could not help but find him totally attractive.

“You are not young anymore, but with age comes wisdom,” the Master said to Johnny English. I really liked that line.

Johnny was unable to compete in terms of physical strength and agility against the younger enemies, yet he outsmarted them through the simplest ways ; taking the lift instead of scaling down the building, riding the crane instead of jumping across high structures, and hiding behind instead of directly fighting. (Everyone in the cinema clapped hands and cheered whenever Johnny English did something smart!)

Yet, even with all that wisdom, he was still deceived by lies. He trusted a colleague that he deeply admired. Though he was desperately warned by his assistant against this evil man, Johnny English refused to believe. He trusted the bad guy and even handed him an important piece of evidence from his investigation. Little did he expect the blame to be thrown upon his shoulders in the end. He never thought that the culprit would be from within the very organization set up to investigate the case.

Have you ever wondered who you should trust?

Who is the one who really cares?

Could the lies come from someone you least expected?

Who is the one with an ulterior motive in mind?

How do you know what to believe?

Can you believe your own judgement?

Johny English was hunted and chased for his life by the very people he was trying to save. His own judgement failed him. He fell many times, but in the end, he survived; though he died, he was reborn. The bad guy, on the other hand, was blown up to his immediate death.

I am not that young anymore, but my age has yet to give me a huge amount of wisdom. Even if it does, I know it will never be enough.

At the end of the day, I realize that it doesn’t matter whether we really know what to believe, at a particular point of time.

If we place our COMPLETE TRUST in the Lord instead of man, we already are reborn in our spirit. Even if we fall and make mistakes many times, we will rise again.

Proverbs 24:16
For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.

Psalm 20:7
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

The 4 Types of Love

All of us have experienced love, in one way or another. Do we know which type of love it falls under?

The Ancient Greek text describes 4 types of LOVE: Storge, Philia, Eros & Agape

1) Storge
This is the most basic kind of love. It comes naturally, the way parents feel for the children. It’s just a feeling that you automatically experience when you like someone. You don’t need to do anything or fulfill any criteria – you just feel it. All of us experience this love from family members or those we like. This is the basic feeling we have when we like something or someone.

2) Philia
This is the next level of love. It’s the kind of loyalty you have towards friends, brothers, sisters, the community or even a sport or activity. You feel it for someone that you really enjoy being with, or going to places you really like. You feel it when you play your favourite sport. You prioritize someone or something because of ‘philia.’

3) Eros
This is an even higher level of love. It involves passion and sensual desire. It comes with a deep longing of the heart. It makes you miss a person so much, and dream of them with your eyes wide open. It may start with a strong feeling the moment your eyes lock, and makes your heart beat a million times faster when you meet. You feel ‘eros’ when you are sexually attracted to someone. Yet, it’s more than just a sexual feeling. It evolves into a deep appreciation of the soul and a person’s true self. This is what dating lovers and married couples feel for each other.

4) Agape
This is the highest form of love. It transcends all the other 3 levels. Agape love is much more than a feeling. It’s ‘unconditional love.’ It’s a CHOICE. It means you love even when you don’t feel like it. You love someone even when they don’t deserve to be loved. You sacrifice to show that you love. You forgive easily. When you have agape love, you can love your enemies. You can be nice to the people who are bad to you. You will love them even when it hurts you. In agape love, there is no selfishness, jealousy, hatred or anger. It is PURE LOVE. You love without expecting anything in return. You just give freely, because of LOVE.

This is the kind of LOVE that Jesus was talking about. He died for our sins and taught us to love our enemies because he was the Agape love.

Agape love is the kind of love we should all strive to achieve. It’s not easy, but with Christ, it is possible.

What type of love do you have?

-JJ-

1 Corinthians 13: 1-13

1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Where Is Your Treasure?

This is an old story of a cobbler who mended shoes with songs of joy, every day. He loved God, and life. He had a wonderful wife and obedient children. Every day, he would sing praises to God while he was making shoes. He was not poor, but not rich either. He had enough to live and provide for his family, and was very happy.

His neighbor was wealthy man. Every day he would look out of his window and see this cobbler singing with joy while working. The neighbor could also hear this cobbler’s singing voice throughout the day, and he found it very irritating! So, the neighbor thought very hard – how to silence this cobbler.

Finally, he had an idea. He said to himself, “Tomorrow, I will give this cobbler a bag full of money, and he will stop singing.”

So, this rich man went to see the cobbler in the morning. He gave the bag of money to him, saying, “Every day I hear you singing. Today, I decided to give you this present for all your singing. Have a nice day! Goodbye!” And the rich man left.

The cobbler was shocked, but only too glad to receive a bagful of money. So he kept the money safely in the cupboard. And that afternoon itself, he was very quiet while working. Every now and then, he would go and check if the money was still there. He kept thinking about the money, and somehow he stopped singing.

The rich neighbor thought to himself, “My plan has worked! Now, the cobbler is quiet!”

But the cobbler’s wife was a wise woman. After a week of watching her husband’s silence, she told him, “Do you realize that you have become very quiet? You are not happily singing and enjoying your work like you used to. It’s because of that bag of money isn’t it? You used to love God and sing with joy. Money cannot buy happiness. Go and return it. I want my happy husband back.”

So the cobbler, being a teachable man, went and returned the bag of money to the rich neighbour. When he sat down to work, he started singing again! He thought about God’s goodness and kept praising God with songs. His wife and family were all happy together again.

The Bible says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.”

The cobbler’s treasure was God before he had that bag of money. That’s why he could sing and praise God. But when that bag of money came in, the money became his treasure. He thought about it day and night – his heart was on the money. It stole God’s place from his life. The cobbler found his happiness when his treasure was God once again.

Many people blame ‘religion’ and equate the rich with evil, and the poor with God. But this is not true. Wealth is a blessing that comes from God, and God certainly loves the poor. There are rich people who love God as much as the poor love Him. And there are poor people who hate God as much as the rich hate Him.

Wealth is generally associated with evil because of one problem. When humans have EVERYTHING, it becomes our treasure and it steals our heart. Jesus is left to stand at the door of our heart and knock.

The poor keep seeking God and believing in Him, as they want a better life. Their heart is focused on God as they work and put it effort, and God does bless them. They experience miracles which we average or the well-to-do may never believe. When the poor receive the blessings, they give the credit back to God. This is where the difference lies, with some of the ‘already rich’ – they think they did it all by themselves without God – because their treasure lies in their wealth. They just continue working hard for money without seeing any importance about God.

Why do people work so hard to serve Money instead of GOD? Can’t they see – at the end of the day, when their working life is over, and their age keeps catching up, they will be left with nothing! Just money & no one to share their life with when they are old and their loved ones are gone! No one to care about their feelings to be there to love them. Even the wealth that they worked so hard to save will go to someone else when they die.

Money CANNOT give us God, happiness & love. Money can only buy us treasures that we can't take to our grave, temporary pleasure that fleets and sex that does not completely fulfill.
Money doesn't care about us, but JESUS HAS ALREADY GIVEN US EVERYTHING (life, wealth, health and love). He even died for our sins.

Everything is vanity. Only God loves us while we are alive and even after we die.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:21:
For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.
And in verse 24:
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Where is your treasure? Who will you serve? Only you can decide.

-JJ-

2012 – It is Not the End of the World!

The internet is full of ‘prophecies’ and predictions about the ‘end of the world’ – especially 2012. If the newspaper headlines read, “The weather is sunny,” – chances are we would not even pick it up. On the contrary, if it says, “A typhoon is heading north” – we’ll be interested! Those who understand the way we humans think and feel, sure make a lot of money – they sell predictions of the financial collapse and government conspiracies, insurances taking into account our future health deterioration and books about the future according to Nostradamus and the Mayan calendar, some even quoting the Bible. One thing for sure, such websites and books are raking in a lot of money, as they play with human fears and come up with excellent movie ideas. We humans are just too quick to jump at bad news.

There may be a little bit of reality in some theories, but whether or not these news and predictions are the ultimate Truth, is very much questionable. NASA reports that a solar storm (as it has always been happening) is predicted in 2012, when the sun’s poles shift. According to them, nothing serious is going to happen to earth. It’s just a matter how badly earth will be affected as our protective layer is weak and leaked. Planets and galaxies are NOT going collide and bring ultimate destruction upon earth, as the movies like to suggest. The world is NOT going to end, yet – but IT IS TRUE that there will be MORE earthquakes, storms, volcanoes etc. (as it has already been happening and increasing over the years).

It is funny how even educated and wealthy people are willing to dump hundreds of thousands of dollars into researches about end of the world predictions. A great number of people follow men who can predict dates and months of when these things will happen, according to Nostradamus or the Mayan calendar. Even when the prediction turns out to be wrong, they give the man a second and third chance, and continue believing (even dumping in more money) – because this is what they desire to believe! It’s true what the Bible says about us:

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

The words of Jesus echo in my ears. “Do not be afraid…Do not be deceived…when you see all this things happen….” Jesus said it many times in the Bible. He already told us that all these natural disasters, wars and collapse of financial systems and governments WILL happen. And what was his purpose of telling us these things – more than 2000 years ago?

Because He knew what will happen today. Being God who loves us, He wanted us to be prepared, stay strong and not be swayed by all the myths that some great ‘gurus’ tell us. He warned us way in advance. Jesus gave us sound doctrine – not to play with our feelings of fear, but to keep us ALERT and PREPARED.

2012 as the end seems simply ridiculous. Just think about the amount of money countries and governments are spending for military weapons, research about space and extraterrestrial life – even sending pizza to the moon! If the big brains up there in top places had evidence and believed that the world is going to end in 2012, they would not be doing all this!

It’s obvious that the world is preparing for something much BIGGER. Given the worsening condition of the environment, financial system etc, it’s not surprising that we are heading towards VERY DIFFICULT TIMES (but NOT the end, yet). Those with power and wealth are just finding ways to save themselves in whatever ways they can.

The Bible tells us there that there will come a time when the world will be ruled under a dictator who will unite the countries in the name of peace and justice. He will bring about a cashless society where it will be impossible to buy and sell without the taking the ‘number’ (we are almost there with our credit cards & internet banking). A universal religion which will ultimately be forced, and resistance to it will be punishable by beheading (the United Nations is working very hard towards a universal religion). A terrible war with weapons like we’ve never known (probably using the weapons that countries are currently buying). The Bible also tells us that during that time, people would lose all their freedom and their every move will be monitored (even now, we unwittingly already are – iPhone users can be traced with detailed reports of your whereabouts, even less sophisticated phone users can be traced via satellite). At that time, ‘you can run but cannot hide.’

The world throws all these myths about the end to distract us from the real terror that is going to come. While the naive world is looking to predictions in fears of destruction, the masterminds are busy planning the future. It will be much easier to die in the destruction of the entire world through natural disasters, than it would be to survive the rule of evil dictatorship.

We do not even realize the amount of freedom we are losing and the modern day slavery that we are falling into. Financial debts, personal monitoring system, ID and accounts (a number) for everything… Everything is beautifully camouflaged. This is just the beginning…

It’s easy and interesting to read about the Mayan calendar and Nostradamus. Even the news may not reveal the 100% truth to us all the time. Before you believe something, check out its authenticity and reliability. Determine the credibility of the person who predicted it. Do not fall into this web of deceit.

The end will come someday, but so much that’s meant to be hasn’t happened YET. Jesus says, “No man knows the hour,” so I will never believe any human’s prediction of specific dates. I would rather buy a plain Bible (the cheapest is only about RM 10) or read it on the Internet (you can even get it for free by asking someone) – it’s been around for centuries and definitely no one is making money trying to sell the original Bible. Instead, the world has been altering the Bible (you can google search) over the years by changing and deleting bit by bit, word by word – hoping that eventually we will never know the Truth. There are even new Bibles being printed out and are sold in bookstores, which delete whole sections of Jesus’ predictions about the future. At the moment, the ‘most original’ English Bible version is the Original King James version.

I do not fear the end. I am already saved through my Saviour, Jesus Christ. I read my Bible while I have the freedom and access to it. My only fear is that I have not done enough to hear my Master to say, “Well done, my good & faithful servant!” when I finally meet Him face to face.

-JJ-

It's All About ATTITUDE!

I read the news and most of it were bleak - the economy collapsing, people perishing and disasters happening. I just longed for a little more postive energy to perk me up.

I suddenly thought of the old Christian hymn, "Blessed Assurance," and kept humming to, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!...."The lyrics were beautiful and very inspiring. I decided to search about the writer online.

What I found out made me feel utterly ashamed of my weakening attitude! Allow me to share.

The writer was Fanny Crosby (born March 24, 1820 – February 12, 1915). She had been blind all her life - yet became the greatest hymn writer in the history of the Christian Church. More than 8,000 of her poems became songs, and over 100,000,000 copies of her songs have been printed. Fanny gave us beautiful songs such as: Blessed Assurance, To God be the Glory, All the Way My Saviour Leads Me and many more. Even today, we sing her songs in church - without knowing its history!

Can you imagine, she wrote this poem about her blindness when she was only 8 years old!

Oh what a happy soul I am,
Although I cannot see;
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy,
That other people don't;
To weep and sigh because I'm blind,
I cannot, and I won't.

Fanny also said :"It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me."

Wikipedia quotes Fanny saying, "When I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior".When asked about her blindness, she was reported as saying that "had it not been for her affliction she might not have so good an education or have so great an influence, and certainly not so fine a memory".

Words of a person who was BLIND all her life! How admirable is that!

Fanny has made me remember something - contentment and happiness doesn't depend on situations. It's purely the ATTITUDE of the heart.

May we make God proud.

JJ

Reality vs Spirituality

A lot of people differentiate spirituality from reality, in many ways. Some might say, ''Career is one thing. God is another. You need to focus on career & move forward.'' Others might say, ''The problems in this world are very complex. We should evaluate spirituality & get real.''

We tend to think that when we work, it has nothing to do with God. Only when it involves church or the temple, God comes into the picture. We feel that playing sports & talking to others, means having real lives without anything spiritual. Some believe, meditating for hours and hours achieves spirituality.

Why do we classify the activities in our lives, in such a way? Perhaps, it's because we are confused between REALITY & SRITUALITY. We tend to equate REALITY with what we can see & explain. We think of SPIRITUALITY as something mystical & obscure - something we cannot see. GOD, of course, is conveniently classified under the spiritual side.

Could REALITY & SPIRITUALITY be ONE, instead of 2 different entities?

Life itself; the breath that we breathe - can we see where it comes from, & where it ends? Just because we can't see our 'live,' do we say it's not real? No! Life is REAL. Life is SPIRITUAL.

The human brain is made of complex nervous systems, which controls our body movements. Can we explain the source of power that guides our nerves & body actions? Just hold up your palm in front of you. What makes your hand move according to what you want to do? Can you see this 'power'? You say it's real even when you can't see or explain it. Our beings are REAL. Our beings are SPIRITUAL.

Just think about your thoughts and words from your mouth. Where do they come from? We can't see or touch them, but we never deny their reality. Our thoughts & words are REAL. Our thoughts & words are SPIRITUAL.

I find it very difficult to understand, how people live REAL & SPIRITUAL lives, yet deny the SPIRITUAL side of it.

It's as if I am saying, ''My name is Joanna. I am an Indian girl. I am a Christian. My weight is XXkg. My height is XXXcm (REAL)....But, I do not live (with thoughts, emotions & feelings) nor love (with my heart & soul)(SPIRITUAL).

Now, can I say that? No! I can't. That would be denying my very self!

I believe that SPIRITUALITY IS REALITY.

GOD IS SPIRITUAL. GOD IS REAL.

GOD is SPIRIT - shapeless and formless. He always existed and is all around us. This is something we cannot see (SPIRITUAL). GOD also appeared in the world as a REAL PERSON - JESUS CHRIST. This is something humankind has seen & recorded in history (REALITY). Perhaps, GOD, in all His wisdom, understood our human confusion between REALITY & SPIRITUALITY - He had it in His Masterplan to show us that BOTH are ONE.

For me, SPIRITUALITY IS NOT RELIGION. It is REALITY. It is GOD in my LIFE - in everything I do, I acknowledge Him.

I do not seperate my life. I DO NOT SAY my career is for my personal advancement, exercise is for my health, food is for my body, the money I earn is for myself because I work for it, church and charity are activities I like for doing good...

Yes, all the above are TRUE. It is REAL. But I DO NOT SAY THAT because IT IS ALSO SPIRITUAL. All of that make me a PERSON who lives in this world.

Without a REAL body with human needs, I would be invisible or a ghost. Without SPIRIT, I would be a lifeless piece of flesh & bones.

Seperating REALITY & SPIRITUALITY removes GOD from our lives. It makes us SELFISH to focus on ME, MYSELF & I. It gives us the mindset that says, ''This (time, comfort, pleasure, money, body, feelings etc.) is MINE! .... and.... ''This 'left-over' I may donate to GOD if I wish!''

Sometimes we foolishly THINK that GOD needs our DONATIONS! People think that doing social work & being 'religious' is a moral responsibility to DONATE to society & God. In a way, it makes us feel a little better about ourselves when we DONATE.

But when we understand that REALITY & SPIRITUALITY are like 2 circles ( a transparent one overlapping a tangible one ) becoming ONE - that's when we realize NOTHING is fully ours in the first place. EVERYTHING is loaned from GOD. GOD already owns EVERYTHING.

Really, we have NOTHING to DONATE to GOD!

We don't need to leave our homes, sell all our belongings and give to the poor, roam the streets like a beggar, sit down in a cave and meditate and pray - hoping to have a ray of light shine upon us. We do not need to do any of this to 'achieve' spirituality. We live in a real world where we need to work and put in effort to survive. We do not do anything to 'prove' our reality. We already ARE REAL & SPIRITUAL!

'Giving' (time, effort, money etc.) to GOD is just a humble act of saying, ''It's all YOURS, GOD. I'm using it for YOU, NOT myself only.''

Working, making money & advancing in career is 'GIVING' to GOD - when our attitude acknowledges Him. Eating well & exercising is 'GIVING' to GOD, when our heart is thankful to Him. Praying & reading the Bible is 'GIVING' to GOD when we worship Him. Having a good time & making our spouse happy is 'GIVING' to GOD when we appreciate His gifts. Providing for our family is 'GIVING' to GOD when we do it to fulfill our role to Him. Charity & good works are 'GIVING' to GOD when we do it for Him.

How come? Because this is exactly what GOD made us to be - REAL & SPIRITUAL. He made us REAL & SPIRITUAL just as Himself!

Get REAL. Be SPIRITUAL. Start LIVING! :)

JJ

No Man Should Live In Chains

Recently, I watched the epic movie of 'Conan, the Barbarian'. As bloody and disturbing as it was, I could not help but digest the deep meaning of Conan's words.

Conversation between Conan and the lady:
Conan: I live, I love, I slay.
The lady : You are no knight, you are not even noble.
Conan: No man should live in chains.


It's true - No man should live in chains.

In our lives, sometimes we live in chains.

Our modern day chains come in many forms - fear of the future, fear of lack, fear of what people think of us, fear of commitment, fear of the haunting past, fear of sins that we have committed and might commit, fear of new experiences, fear of death, and the list goes on. These chains bind us and make our walk heavier with each step.

We try our best to be brave and strive for contentment - but sometimes, it's just beyond us.

But as Conan said, "No man should live in chains " - regardless of who you are. Every person deserves to BE FREE!

When I watched the movie, I could not help but think of Jesus. He came to save us and give us hope for the future.

That is the exact reason that Jesus came to earth to sacrifice his life - so that 'no man should live in chains'.

Jesus taught us to LIVE by his examples as well as teachings. He demonstrated LOVE when he laid down His life for our sins on the cross. He SLAYED evil when He died and rose from the dead.

Conan is just a movie character who fought for revenge. JESUS is real, and he came to SAVE so that no man might live in chains!


John 3:17 :"For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Romans 8:1: Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

JJ