Circumstance

Jack took his bottle of water in one hand and in the other, his towel.
The heat of his body waved across him from head to toe.
As he walked out of the gym, drips of sweat trickled down, following his footprints ever so closely.
He stepped out of the gym, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Silence was his friend at that very moment.
The sound of nothingness seemed to be whispering words of comfort.
He kept his eyes closed as he felt tears swelling up behind his eyelids.
He closed them tight, long enough to persuade his tears back within its rightful abode.
He opened his eyes and released a gentle sigh.
Jack found himself standing in the opening of a vast clear night.

"Give me courage... That's all I asks," he whispered.

Jack seldom gets himself in such position.
There were times, undoubtedly, that he felt incompetent and inadequate but this time, this time it was different.
The load of it all seemed much heavier than before, it seemed to be pressing him down a whole lot harder.
Hard enough for him to feel his spirit within crush.

His spirit was broken.

Jack felt the grip of what he held on to so dearly for that brief moment slip away, spiralling downwards to the pits of discouragement.
His strength totally attenuated by the sheer reality of his weakness.
He feels completely frustrated at himself, frustrated for his lackness.
Truth be told, he is concern about the efficacy of his presence more than anything else.
It seems to him that he is doing more harm than good.
Only He can speak some sense into him at such times.

Jack took another gulp of water.
He could feel the water flow down ever so slowly in his body, gradually, cooling off the heat within.
Jack has never come this close to giving up.
What exactly is holding him back? He thought to himself.

Nothing.

Nothing is holding him back.
Nothing, but only the desire of his heart.
Although the stark reality has somewhat distorted his dream, his desire is still intact.
Though his spirit is broken, his desire is restoring the pieces.
Circumstances have impeded him from moving forth, but only for a little while will Circumstance dance in victory.

Jack stared into the clear night sky.
Stars were shining ever so brightly and he can almost hear them say to him,
“Take courage, my friend. Hope is with you.”
He smiled to himself at the ridiculous thought of Stars talking to him.

“Only a little while will Circumstance dance in victory. And his time is up.”

Jack closed the lid of his bottle, wiped the sweat off his forehead with his towel, turned around, took a deep breath, turned the door knob and stepped back into the gym.

Read more...

He is renown!

mus
"Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws,
we wait for you;
your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts"

Isaiah 26: 8

Dedicated to my heavenly Father;
the King, the Lord....
the Renown.
Striving to make You renown!

He is Renown!

Verse 1:
The King of Majesty is on the throne,
I worship Him & Him alone,
He is great

He sent His only Son to die for me,
Risen from the dead He set me free,
He is great

Pre-Chorus:
Every tongue will confess, Every tribe will bow down,
All the nations will see that Christ is our King!

Chorus:
He is renown, The Lord is crowned!
The name above all names, Oh Jesus took away my shame
He is renown, The Lord is crowned!
He is the risen King, & everybody sing,
He is renown!

Verse 2:
He is beautiful, He is wonderful,
He is glorious, He is magnificent,
He is Lord
& all the people shout His fame,
Declaring His mighty name,
He is Lord

Bridge:
Worthy, Worthy, Worthy,
Lord I give you praise
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Your banner I will raise!

Read more...

For The Sake of The Call.

Nobody stood and applauded them
So they knew from the start
This road would not lead to fame
All they really knew for sure was Jesus had called to them
He said "Come follow me" and they came
With reckless abandon they came

Empty nets lying there at the waters edge
Told a story that few could believe and none could explain
How some crazy fishermen agreed to go where Jesus lead
With no thought for what they would gain
For Jesus had called them by name and they answered

CHORUS:
We will abandon it all for the sake of the call
No other reason at all but the sake of the call
Wholly devoted to live and to die
For the sake of the call

Drawn like the rivers are drawn to the sea
No turning back for the water cannot help but flow
Once we hear the Savior's call we'll follow wherever he leads
Because of the love He has shown
And because he has called us to go we will answer

We will abandon it all for the sake of the call
No other reason at all but the sake of the call
Wholly devoted to live and to die

BRIDGE:
Not for the sake of a creed or a cause
Not for a dream or a promise
Simply because it is Jesus who calls
And if we believe we'll obey

"Yea, my heart instructeth me in the night seasons.
"Oh, how good! For I have known my heart is speaking to me for God!...
No visions, no voices, but the counsel of a heart which desires God."
(Jim Elliot)

I hear Thee.

Read more...

Running

In all honesty, I hate running, ESPECIALLY long distance running.

I mean, just think about it - You run for few excruciating kilometres, tire the heck out of yourself, getting bored out of your wits with the scenery around you (it can't possibly be all that interesting, probably trees, trees and more trees), and by the time you reach the end of line, you practically smell like a dead fish.
So yea, I hate running.

But...

As much as I hate it, I know it's something I MUST do.
I started my training today and man, I felt like an idiot.
By the end of just 15 minutes, my whole body began to shut down.
My legs started to feel heavy, my breathing went all haywire, pain ceased my body all over. Not good.
Then again, I really shouldn't be complaining. I was impeded by my own doing.
Never train, never grow.

While warming myself down after a shameful 15 minutes run, I took some time to do some reflection.
The only way to make long distance running 'slightly' easier is to actually have a purpose in the run.
That's the key ingredient to keep your legs moving and to keep your lungs from failing.
The more passionate you are about your purpose, the greater the driving force.
The greater the drive, the harder you'll train.
Run for a purpose.

That's how the Christian life is, isn't it?
The greater we understand the purpose God has placed in our hearts, the more passionate we become, the more willing we are to go that extra mile, and for some, even to death.
I'm reminded of Jim Elliot, the man who understood God's purpose, moved into it and died for it.
Jim was an all-rounder back in his college days. Believe it or not, he was even the school-champion wrestler! And this is what he had to say about his purpose behind the sport:

"I wrestle solely for the strength and co-ordination of muscle tone that the body receives while working out, with the ultimate end that of presenting a more useful body as a living sacrifice. This God knows, and even though He chose to allow it to be strained,
the motive was for His glory and the faith He honours."
(Jim Elliot)

It moved me to tears when I read this.
Here is a man who championed in wrestling and yet he did so not for personal gain nor for glory but for a greater purpose beyond himself.
Jim Elliot understood his purpose crystal clear, so much so that in every area of his life, he made sure he was training and running towards the right direction.
Jim was running for Him and to Him.

It caused me to re-evaluate the things that I am doing in my life, the purpose behind them all - are they truly Godly driven?
Is my life wholly one that is directed to Him or do I compartmentalize them into different sections, segregating at my own liking?
He knows all things. He knows how broken and imperfect I can be.
I just pray that I will not be distracted by the brokenness but be fixed upon Him.

Let us run for Him and to Him with the ultimate end that of presenting a more useful body as a living sacrifice.

For starters, let's put on the right shoes. :)

Read more...

What more could be given to a life?

"I am longing now to reach the Aucas if God gives me the honour of proclaiming the Name among them... I would gladly give my life for that tribe if only to see an assembly of those proud, clever, smart people gathering around a table to honour the Son -
gladly, gladly, gladly!
What more could be given to a life?"

(Jim Elliot).

Such zeal.
It blows my mind.

Read more...

"Do you love me?"

If you think about it that is probably one of the most heart piercing questions Jesus has ever asked.
It makes me wonder sometimes, what if I am Simon Peter - what if that question was literally directed to me to answer.

Hmmmmm... And I continue to wonder....

This particular passage is taken from John 21: 15-17.
I found myself immersed a little deeper in this passage from last Sunday service.
It's one of those passages in the Bible where you know by heart yet knew so little about it. Do you know that when Jesus asked Simon Peter that question three times in a row, he actually used two different words to express the word 'love'?
Both words originated from the Greek language.
The first being the word "Agapao" and the second being the word "Phileo".

The "Phileo" type of love speaks of friendship love. It is used to describe certain sense of affection in a relationship from one person to another. For example, Jonathan and David had a Phileo love for one another. Phileo love is very much based on emotions and therefore, it has its limitation. What I mean is this - take for instance, if you have a stranger in your midst, you can't possibly tell that person "Hey, I Phileo you". It would be odd simply because you don't have a relationship with that person and because of that, you are not emotionally attached to that person. This is where "Agapao" love comes in.

"Agapao" love is totally different from any other kind. Unlike "Phileo" love, Agapao love transcends all human understanding. It reaches out to even people we don't know, yes, even to our enemies. Agapao can be equated to such expressions like unconditional love, self-sacrificing, and divine. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only son...” The actual word used was "For God so agapao the world...". So you see, God reaches out to all of us in the greatest form of love.

So, this is a re-enactment of the scene of what actually happened between Simon Peter and Jesus... Or at least how I'd imagined it to be.

*****************

(Setting: At the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus and Peter finish eating their meals. Both still sitting down while having a simple chat. Then Jesus asked Simon Peter.)

Jesus: Pete, do you Agapao me?

Simon Peter: Yes, Master... You know I... (He pause a little while and seems to be searching for the right word to complete his sentence.)... You know I Phileo you...

Jesus: Feed my lambs.

(Jesus turns around to get a bucket of water to clean his hands. After cleaning up, he turns back to Simon Peter. He stares at Peter for a moment. And then asks him again...)

Jesus: Pete, do you truly Agapao me?

Simon Peter: Yes, Lord. You know that I Phileo you.

Jesus: Take care of my sheep.

(Simon Peter stands up, a little perplexed, and proceeds to clean himself up. After a while, he comes back. Jesus is still sitting there staring out at the sea of Galilee. Simon Peter takes a bottle of water to drink.)

Jesus: Simon son of John, do you Phileo me?

Simon Peter: (Puts his bottle down and sits down on the ground. He stares at the bottle for a little while, thinking.) Lord, you know all things.... You know that I Phileo you.

*****************

So, what is so moving about this passage?

God, who is love and who Agapao us so much, actually brings himself to our level of love to reach out to us - that is what so moving about this passage.
When Jesus asked Peter the one million dollar question three times, Peter couldn’t bring himself to use the adjective ‘Agapao’ even once because Peter knew that it was the greatest form of love and he also knew that if he used that word, it will cost him a lot.
Peter wasn’t ready to go that far. Instead, we find him using the word ‘phileo’.
Jesus asked him twice and by the third time, Jesus changed his adjective from ‘Agapao’ to ‘Phileo’ because he knew Peter wasn’t ready.
Jesus was willing to come all the way down to Peter’s level to reach out to him, just like how he reached down to us from heaven to the cross to display his Agapao love for us.

I found that profoundly refreshing. It hit me hard to know that God is willing to go to every extent to pick us up.

Do you Agapao Him or do you Phileo Him?

Read more...