Read: Ecclesiastes 11, 12
Have you ever tried grasping for the wind? Stupid foolish attempt,
isn't it? But sometimes, that is exactly what we are doing. Most of the time.
We cared so much about our worldly things as if these are what that
will give us eternal happiness and contentment. We cared the most about our
jobs, our achievements in school, our exam results, our business profits,
that we forget about the place for God in our heart and our aspirations. In
the end, all these stuff would decay, and our heart will be unsatisfied,
frustrated by the meaninglessness of it all, because they are not for eternity.
King Solomon should be the luckiest, most happy, most powerful, no
reason for sadness, if the standards of this world that measures wealth and
success is for the truth. He has more gold than enough, many wives and
concubines to satisfy his sexual needs, but yet, he wrote such an
unhappy book that is the Ecclesiastes.
Why ? He declared that 'Everything under the sun is meaningless. A case of
grasping for the wind' Why?? Because he is not only rich and powerful, he is also wise. Wisdom from God. and from such wisdom, he realised that without God, everything is meaningless. As conclusion in Chapter 11 and 12, he wrote that knowing our God, our Creator should be the thing to be pursued the most, starting
from our days of youth, which is now for you and I.
You see, Ai, the fear(respect,love, obedience) of God is the beginning
of wisdom. Only then, would other things fall in place, relevant, and
suitable for enjoyment.
++We have our hope in the anchor that is our Lord Jesus Christ++
Read Jeremiah 18:1-10
Did you notice that I name my journal as 'Journal Jeremiah' ? There is
a reason for it. I was touched by this very passage that I decided to
start a journal that contains inspirations from the word of God, and also
scribblings about my life, my feelings. Why Jeremiah? Because this guy has doubted and God has shown him many
times that he would be useful. This is so similar with young people like us.
We doubted our ability to serve God or be His instrument to touch other
people despite God telling us many times we can.
In Jeremiah 18, the Lord gave a very profound example/message to him
so that he can bring the Lord's message to the people of Israel who have
wronged against God.
What was the message? That God is our potter and we are the clay. We
are shaped according to His plan. Extremely speaking, He can crush is, but
of course, God is a loving one, and an artistic potter, he would shape
and mould us into the best shape He can think of. The solemn point is this:- that God will decide the outcome of our doings, that the blessings he has given us would be taken away, we would disqualified, when we take them for granted, and did wrong in His sight.
Likewise, when we are doomed for punishment, if we REPENT, he will
relent and stop the disaster he has planned. All in all, He is a loving God,
a God who is faithful, and wants us for the best, and is willing to forgive
us if we REPENT. There is a second chance, but we have to take it sincerely.
Similarly, God is also the Holy one, he cannot tolerate unrepented wrongdoings, sins. And for that, we shall be punished.
Conclusion: That we should honor God in things that we do, that we
should repent and confess to Him our sins, and that God as the potter would
shape the best pot out of our clay.
++++I love the Lord because He first loved me++++
>Remember the song? :- Change my heart O God,
> Make it ever true
> Change my heart o God,
> May I be like you
> U are the Potter,
> I am the clay
> Mould me and make me,
> This is what I pray.
Perhaps, zeal.com was a product of blogging madness some months ago. The author does not have the capacity at the present moment to blog actively here. In time to come, this blog and 11th hour may be deleted, and instead incorporated into Warung Ikan Bakar.
Finally, i got hold of the videotape of our Christmas Nite 2002. That was half a year ago, but....i can still remember the tension, and the excitement vividly.
So much has changed, we promised to further develop our friendship, we had closer ties, we attracted visitors, but left that all to waste.
We were complacent, indifferent.
Even, some are no longer in speaking terms.
Bad testimony.
Fooji, this is my first posting in this blog! I had actually faced the same situation as you were facing. After training, there will be two months break for me before the new semester commences, due to a delay to accomodate the timing for Hari Raya. You see, all these while, now I am almost 22, I have not been to any camp or vacation with my friends, and upon graduation next Feb, I have to sort like decide my path, so initially I planned to take time to go somewhere with my housemates and Toh Kwong they all. Recently, just 2 weeks ago I think, I decided to pull out. And I want to spend my 2 weeks in Ipoh with my family besides catching up with my own dynamic website as I told you. I came to know God in a very special way, very different from all of you, therefore holding God in whatever I do is the top priority. And because of this, maybe, I found out that it is hard for me to find friends that suit me well in Uni. Chinese in Uni are somewhat peculiar, again, maybe because I was brought up in a semi "English" home and school. There is a wide gap in mentality and mind-set. When I talk politics, they sort like being scared and so naive, when I type mails or comments, they sort like thinking I am wasting my time, when they discuss about certain historical Chinese issues, I am lost, when they talk funny things in Mandarin, I don't seem to understand and feel like a fool, when they intro themselves, they intro their their names in Mandarin, when I intro mine, they ask for my Mandarin names, when CNY comes, they enjoy gambling and buying new clothes and stuffs whereas I feel this is so ridiculuos and conservative, when I talk to my church leaders or anyone in English, they feel that I am no Chinese, and they keep on praising Chinese thingy whereas I prefer to remain fair and not judgemental (now you know why it is hard for me to find a girlfriend in UM?:)). All in all, in all these years I learned a lot, to adapt to different environments and circumstances and at the same time I thank God, I still have you and Pang, Li Yien, Desmond and Yun Fern! Really! I realise our old friendship is still memorable and kicking and is getting closer, thank Blog I should, perhaps! :) Getting to know those Sabahan friends through Alex and you people, is also another blessing to me. Surely, God has done so much good for me in my short and fast 3 years stay in UM!
My good friend Piow, offered me a chance to go with him to Redang Island, to spend the weekend, just for Rm150.
Almost joined him, but the feel and the mood, just wasn't there. Been spending most of the week in front of the computer, hardly did some solid studying, so I think I should be alone for the weekend, catching with my work.
I was glad I made this decision, because, just now, I had a great time with my Sabahan friend's house for our 2nd year medic CG. Been a while since we gather together, praising God with our songs, and play games, and did some sharing. I was enlightened to realise that all of us, have our burdens in different matters, like studies, family, spiritual matters, and all. And God has been so faithful to sustain us, to keep the smile on our face, and to enable us to enjoy humour all the same.
I thank God for tonight. It's been a while, yeah.
zeal.com
